India and the Central Eurasian Space (Essay‪)‬

INTRODUCTION Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, and due to India's security and increasing energy needs, New Delhi has been active in Central Eurasia, just as China has been, although the communist power was quicker off the mark in post-Soviet Central Eurasia than India. According to Olcott, all of Central Eurasia's leaders are "aware of the economic and geopolitical power that New Delhi would come to exercise as its economy continues to grow." (1) Visits to the region by senior Indian political figures have been treated as significant occasions. For example, Indian Prime Minister Narasimha Rao made an official trip to Kazakhstan in May 1993; Indian Foreign Minister Salman Hurshid visited Kazakhstan in June 2004; Indian Minister of Oil and Gas V. Ramamurati visited Kazakhstan in March 1999; and Indian Foreign Minister Omar Abdulla visited Uzbekistan in September 2001. Indeed India has strong diplomatic presence in the region. But from the standpoint of the Indians, the Central Eurasian market is small, not to mention the transport and political difficulties of working within it, that is, of problems associated with transporting goods across Afghanistan and Pakistan. (2)