SME Times News Bureau | 04 Jul, 2015
Increasing connectivity to the resource-rich but landlocked
Central Asian countries of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and
Tajikistan would be very much part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit from
July 6-13, besides boosting trade, which is at a paltry $1.6 billion.
The International North South Transport Corridor, which is set to connect
Mumbai with St. Petersburg in Russia and would greatly help to boost trade,
would be part of the discussions between Modi and the Central Asian leaders,
said Navtej Sarna, secretary (west) in the ministry of external affairs, at a
briefing here on Friday.
Modi's visit, the first in recent times by an Indian prime minister to all five
countries in one go, would also see discussions on "commonalities of
concern" regarding the threat from extremist groups and forging of
counter-terrorism linkages, he said.
The discussions on terrorism come amid concerns over the rising influence of
the Islamic State among the youth in the five countries.
India has joint working groups on counter-terrorism with the countries, which
are to provide inputs, the top official said.
The terrorist violence in neighbouring Afghanistan, with which three of the
countries, especially Tajikistan, share borders, post the drawdown of the
US-led international forces, is also of concern.
Energy cooperation would be high on the agenda of Modi, especially the $10
billion Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project
that is likely to take off in December, said Sarna.
TAPI is expected to bring Turkmenistan natural gas from its giant Dauletabad
and Galkynysh gas fields to Pakistan and India.
"The TAPI is a major project; it will certainly be discussed and we will
explore how to move forward very quickly," said Sarna.
He said Modi's visit would seek to give a push forward to the North-South
Transport Corridor, and to also link it up with Chabahar port in Iran, which
India is upgrading. Other transit corridors would also be explored, he said.
Sarna said there was a "huge groundswell of goodwill" for India among
the five countries, which are part of the Old Silk Route with which India has
age old cultural linkages.
India has been cooperating in the fields of capacity building, in the field of
health, entrepreneurial training with the nations.
The region is resource-rich, with Turkmenistan having the fourth largest gas
reserves in the world and Kazakhstan being a major oil producer and the largest
producer of uranium.
"There is great potential to increase trade, but it is hampered by lack of
surface connectivity," he said.