New Delhi, Sep 3 (IANS) The Chintan Research Foundation (CRF) on Thursday hosted a special lecture featuring Joseph Epstein, Director of the Turan Research Center in the United States, on the topic ‘The New Great Game in Central Asia’, which focused on “India’s positioning in the region” alongside key players like China, Russia, the US, the European Union (EU), and Turkey.

The event follows Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Central Asian nations, Uzbekistan and the Kyrgyz Republic. PM Modi attended the 26th Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Kyrgyzstan’s capital, Bishkek.

Speaking to IANS, Ayushi Saini, CRF’s Research Consultant, Central Asia, said: “This timing is very crucial as we discussed India’s positioning in the region alongside key players like China, Russia, the US, the EU, and Turkey. We discussed how to navigate regional connectivity, the important role of organisations like the SCO, and where India fits amidst the interests of these major actors.”

She said that the lecture explored India’s historical ties with Central Asia, current dynamics, and the growing interest India has in the region.

“How Central Asian republics perceive India and steps being taken to strengthen India’s partnership with five Central Asian countries, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, were also discussed,” Saini added.

Dr Chhavi Vasisht, Associate Fellow at CRF, echoed her, saying: “Today’s discussion’s main issue was how Central Asian countries view themselves in the new global geopolitics.”

“In the past, if we talk about the 19th century, Russia and the UK were major powers that ruled or used the resources in Central Asia. But today, there are other major powers present. Central Asian countries no longer say, ‘Come and take our resources’. That era of old-style colonialism is gone. In this new paradigm and new geopolitics, these countries are independently making decisions, independently pursuing their foreign policies, and navigating the new great power dynamics,” she told IANS.

Further, Vasisht said that the lecture largely focused on how Central Asian countries are responding to great powers and how these great powers are, in turn, dealing with the Central Asian nations.

Following PM Modi’s recent visit, she mentioned that the event aimed to address “what our foreign policy is and what our goals and ambitions are in the great power dynamics and with regard to Central Asia?”

–IANS

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