ABOUT THE BOOK

This book delves into the economic dimension of India-Central Asia relations in the light of post-Cold War international developments. With Central Asia today being treated as India`s ``extended neighbourhood``, the importance of Central Asia to India is now not merely civilizational and historical, but also geopolitical and economic. Therefore, the book argues that India`s relationship with Central Asia must be seen in terms of a unique multi pronged approach, including, political, economic, strategic, cultural and development partnership. However, given the existing drawbacks in India`s economic engagement with each of the five Central Asian Republics (CARs), the entire study of the book focusses on evaluating the extent and pattern of over two decades of their economic and trade ties in order to make a future projection of the ongoing relations. It seeks Indian policy makers to be aware of the fact that all round economic engagement with Central Asia can be an answer to New Delhi`s multiple objectives: (a) to maintain its political influence in the region; (b) to meet its energy requirements; and (c) to develop a market for its own products. The study is based on the assumption that India`s quest for establishing a strong foothold in the region is likely to depend on consolidating its presence and visibility in the region until political situation allows it to get a cheaper and more secure access to Central Asia through Afghan, Chinese or the Iranian territory. This assumption is grounded on the premise that by pursuing a ``multi-vector`` foreign policy all the Central Asian Republics are seeking to avoid overreliance on any one or handful of foreign partners to ensure security in their political, economic and strategic fields. It further argues that despite the centrality of energy issue, India-Central Asia economic relations now need to be seen through wider prism that would involve important sectors of each of the CARs` economic development planning: uranium, electricity, hydroelectricity, infrastructure, construction, transport, banking, agribusiness, and above all emerging sectors such as the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector. It explores various transportation networks which are likely to propel India into Central Asian picture in the near future. In doing so, it seeks to arrive at a rationale to understand new perspectives and orientations of Indian policy towards Central Asian Republics as enunciated in the ``Connect Central Asia`` policy unveiled in 2012.

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