Modi Central Asia Visit Aims to Reverse Disengagement — SkimNews
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- PM Modi's four-day visit to Uzbekistan and the Kyrgyz Republic covers multiple platforms: the SCO summit, the September BRICS Summit, India's 2028-2029 UNSC bid, and the long-pending India-Central Asia Summit.
- The India-Central Asia Summit has not convened since 2022, fueling regional speculation that New Delhi has lost interest compared to Modi's 2015 tour of all five Central Asian states.
- At Nazarbayev University in Nur Sultan in 2015, Modi pledged to rebuild connectivity to Central Asia — but experts say those prospects have been "considerably cut due to geopolitical shifts."
- The 'Connect Central Asia' policy was launched in 2012 under the Manmohan Singh government, though physical connectivity has lagged well behind the diplomatic framing.
- India-Central Asia goods trade rose from $500 million in 2010 to more than $2 billion in 2025, even as physical connectivity projects stalled.
Why it matters: The India-Central Asia Summit has been dormant since 2022, creating a perception vacuum China and Russia have filled. Modi's four-forum agenda is designed to close it, but trade quadrupling from $500 million to $2 billion while connectivity stalled shows how far India's promises lag behind results.
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