Indian Council of World Affairs organized the 4th India-Central Asia Dialogue in New Delhi on December 1-2, 2016. Ambassador Nalin Surie, Director General, ICWA and Ms. Sujata Mehta, Secretary(West) inaugurated the Dialogue.
In his opening remarks, Ambassador Nalin Surie said that both the regions are confronted with complex challenges and common problems including issues of connectivity, terrorism, socio-economic development, the situation in Afghanistan and religious extremism. He stated that the ongoing Dialogue is one small step in moving forward towards identifying common approaches and areas of cooperation to confront the challenges for the benefit of the people and the countries of these regions. He noted that India’s collaboration with the countries of Central Asia is the outcome of an approach based on mutual benefit and obvious complementarities. He emphasized that efforts must be made to jointly dismantle bottlenecks to future growth and prosperity.
In her keynote address, Ms. Sujata Mehta recalled that during first such dialogue the participants had noted that the political warmth and proximity between India and Central Asia is not equally manifest in the scale of economic exchanges between them and emphasized the need to work for a convergence between these two aspects. She said that the current scenario, regionally and internationally, presents immense challenges but also offers potential for India and Central Asia to qualitatively enhance their engagement. She stated that both India and Central Asia are factors of peace, stability, growth and development in the region and the world and stronger relations between them would contribute to increased security and prosperity of these countries and the world. She emphasized that India’s vision for future cooperation between India and Central Asia is ambitious and at the same time realistic.
The Dialogue was divided into five technical sessions on “India-Central Asia amid Changing Global Dynamics”, “India in Regional Integration & Multilateral Processes”, “India-Central Asia: Building Energy & Surface Transport Connectivity”, “Regional Security Situation: Changing Threat Perceptions” and “India-Central Asia: Finding Economic, Political and Cultural Compatibility”.
15 experts and scholars from five Central Asian countries and 10 from India participated in the Dialogue. From Kazakhstan, Dr. Laura Yerekesheva, Deputy Director, Institute of Oriental Studies; Mr. Iskander Akylbayev, Research Fellow, Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies; and Mr. Zhumabek Sarabekov, Foreign Policy Expert, Institute of World Economy and Politics attended the Dialogue. Dr. Yerekesheva chaired the session “India-Central Asia amid Changing Global Dynamics”.
The ICWA organizes the annual India-Central Asia Dialogue at Track-II level in sync with “Connect Central Asia” policy. The Dialogue provides an important platform for scholarly discussions on the whole range of bilateral, regional and multilateral issues. This year, the Dialogue was arranged in track 1.5 format involving participation of governmental representatives. It included an innovative webinar format enabling participants from the Central Asian countries and other stakeholders to participate through web and make interventions and ask questions.
