PM to host India-central Asia Summit on Jan 27
NEW DELHI: India on Wednesday announced that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will host the first India-central Asia summit virtually on January 27 as part of the country’s engagement with the extended neighbourhood.
The development follows the government’s decision to go ahead with Republic Day celebrations on January 26 without any foreign leader as chief guest because of a surge in Covid-19 infections. Earlier, the Indian side had invited the leaders of
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan to be chief guests, though no formal announcement was made by any of the countries.
The external affairs ministry said the presidents of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan,
Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan will participate in the virtual summit, described as the “first engagement of its kind between India and the Central Asian countries at the level of leaders.” The summit reflects New Delhi’s growing engagement with the Central Asian states, part of India’s “extended neighbourhood”, and is symbolic of the importance attached by leaders of India and Central Asia to a comprehensive and enduring partnership, the ministry said.
At the summit, the leaders are expected to discuss steps to take India-central Asia relations to newer heights, and exchange views on regional and international issues, “especially the evolving regional security situation,” the ministry added.
This is the second year in a row that the Republic Day celebrations have been affected by the pandemic. The rapid spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus in the past few weeks and recent violent protests in Kazakhstan, which resulted in the death of over 220 people, were factors that went against the participation of the Central Asian leaders, said people familiar with the matter.