India is hosting the Third India-Central Asia Dialogue Sunday as New Delhi marks a strategic outreach to a region that it now considers as part of its extended neighbourhood. While India shares deep civilisational ties with many of the countries, the importance of Central Asia lies is recognition of the fact that the region serves as a land bridge between Asia and Europe and is bestowed with rich natural resources and was being wooed assiduously by China as well.

Foreign Ministers of the five Central Asian republics - Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan - would attend the dialogue being hosted Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. 

The foreign ministers are expected to discuss further strengthening of relations between India and Central Asian countries, with a particular focus on trade, connectivity and development cooperation. They will also exchange views on regional and international issues of mutual interest, especially Afghanistan, which some of them border.  

Three of the countries - Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan - share a land border with Afghanistan, and all five have been concerned about terrorism spilling over across from Afghanistan, where the Taliban are now in command.  Tajikistan shares an over 1,300 km border with that country, and the Tajik leadership has been vocal in its disapproval of the Taliban takeover and demanded a more inclusive government, with representatives from the country's large Tajik population.

The security chiefs of the five countries were in India on November 10 at the invitation of National Security Adviser Ajit Doval for the conclave on Afghanistan which was also attended by the Russian and Iranian security advisers.

Sunday's meeting comes amid reports that the leaders from the five Central Asian countries could be the chief guests at India's Republic Day parade on January 26, 2022, UNI news agency said. 

There has been increased ongoing engagement between India and the five Central Asian countries in the last few years. Jaishankar visited Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan this year, and met with the Turkmenistan Foreign Minister in October this year.

The holding of the annual India-Central Asia Dialogue is symbolic of the interest on the part of all member countries for greater engagement between them in a spirit of friendship, trust and mutual understanding, India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said. 

But geographical connectivity has been a hindrance, and India and the five countries are working to push the International North South Transport Corridor (INSTC) project, plus other joint projects, like the Chabahar port in Iran in which Uzbekistan is also investing.

At the last meeting, India had offered USD $ 1 billion Line of Credit for priority development projects in fields such as connectivity, energy, IT, healthcare, education, agriculture etc. The five countries had also welcomed India’s offer to provide grant assistance for the implementation of High Impact Community Development Projects (HICDP) for furthering socio-economic development in the countries.

To give an impetus to business ties, which have not been encouraging, the India-Central Asia Business Council (ICABC) was launched in New Delhi on February 6, 2020, comprising FICCI and business chambers from the five countries.

Soon after assuming office, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited all the Central Asian countries in July 2015, signifying India's determination to bring the region back in focus in India's foreign policy. The first India-Central Asia Dialogue was held on January 13, 2019 in Samarkand, Uzbekistan (SAM).