&w=3840&q=100)
Soft power, sharp strategy: How India is silently securing its interests in Central Asia
On June 6, 2025, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar hosted the 4th India-Central Asia Dialogue in New Delhi, marking a significant step in strengthening India's ties with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Beyond the talk of trade corridors and energy deals, there is a grand strategy as well.
Behind the handshakes and MoUs lies a high-stakes game for influence, as India counters China's Belt and Road and Russia's waning grip.
Strategic footholds in a region critical to Eurasian dominance. Imagine India securing a web of partnerships that bypasses Pakistan, deters Beijing, and locks in energy routes. That's the power play unfolding. Jaishankar isn't just building bridges. He's redrawing the strategy.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
India's push into Central Asia isn't just another trade mission; it's a bold bid to reshape influence in a region that's been a geopolitical sandbox for great powers. Forget oil routes or export markets. Jaishankar's dialogues are about planting India's flag as a cultural force, using soft power—think Bollywood, yoga, and shared history—to win hearts where Beijing and Moscow wield wallets and weapons. India's not just chasing contracts; it's rewriting the rules of the game, proving it can lead without coercion.
Central Asia—Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan—sits at the crossroads of empires, a landlocked prize where global powers jostle for control. For decades, Russia's military might and China's Belt and Road billions have set the tone. India's entry isn't new; it's been nibbling at the edges with trade pacts and small investments. But Jaishankar's recent talks signal a shift—a deliberate pivot toward influence that doesn't rely on chequebooks or threats. Why care? Because in a world where hard power often backfires, India's softer approach could redefine how nations compete in contested regions. It's a test case for whether culture can trump cash.
Let's start with the obvious: Central Asia matters. It's a treasure trove of gas, oil, and rare minerals, but more than that, it's a buffer zone between Russia, China, and the volatile Middle East. China's been pouring money into roads and railways, tying countries like Uzbekistan to its orbit with loans that often morph into debt traps. Russia, meanwhile, leans on old Soviet ties and military bases to keep its grip. Both play a zero-sum game—control or bust.
India's different. Jaishankar's recent meetings, like the India-Central Asia Dialogue, pushed practical stuff: trade corridors, energy deals, even counterterrorism. But scratch the surface, and you see something else brewing. India's not trying to outspend China— it can't. Nor is it muscling in like Russia. Instead, it's banking on something neither rival can match: cultural resonance.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
Take Bollywood. In Almaty, Kazakhstan's biggest city, Indian films pack theatres, and stars like Shah Rukh Khan are household names. In Uzbekistan, Indian universities are setting up campuses, drawing students who see India as a gateway to affordable, quality education. Kyrgyzstan, with its Buddhist heritage, is ripe for India's pitch as a spiritual hub—think tourist trails linking ancient monasteries to India's Buddhist circuit. These aren't just feel-good stories; they're strategic. When a Kyrgyz teen watches Dangal or an Uzbek student studies in Delhi, they're not just consuming entertainment or education—they're buying into India's worldview.
Compare that to China's approach. Beijing builds shiny highways but leaves countries like Tajikistan drowning in debt—$1.2 billion owed by 2023, nearly 15 per cent of its GDP. Locals grumble about Chinese workers flooding their markets, building projects that feel more like occupation than partnership. Russia's playbook is even blunter: military drills and strong-arm tactics that remind Central Asians of Soviet days. Both powers get results, but they breed resentment. India's soft power—movies, music, shared history—slips under the radar, building goodwill without strings attached.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
History backs this up. India's links to Central Asia go back centuries, from the Silk Road to shared Buddhist and Sufi traditions. Jaishankar's not starting from scratch; he's tapping a vein of nostalgia and familiarity. In 2022, India hosted Central Asian leaders for a virtual summit, pushing cultural exchanges alongside trade. Small moves, like $1 million grants for community projects in Kyrgyzstan, show India's not just talking the talk. These gestures aren't flashy, but they're deliberate—seeds for long-term influence.
The gamble's not without risks. Central Asia's leaders are pragmatic; they'll take India's scholarships but still court China's cash. And India's own backyard—think Pakistan and Bangladesh—keeps Delhi distracted. But here's the edge: India's not seen as a bully. Unlike China's debt traps or Russia's heavy hand, India's pitch feels like partnership. If Delhi plays it right, it could carve out a niche as the region's trusted friend, not its overlord.
Jaishankar's Central Asia play isn't about outbidding China or outmuscling Russia—it's about outsmarting them. In a region where power has long meant money or might, India's betting on a different currency: ideas. Bollywood beats, Buddhist trails, and classroom exchanges might not make headlines like billion-dollar deals, but they're quietly shifting the board. Central Asia's not just a market—it's a proving ground for India's rise as a cultural great power. Watch closely: this is how you win a game without firing a shot.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
The writer is a columnist. His articles have appeared in various publications like The Independent, The Globe and Mail, South China Morning Post, The Straits Times, etc. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost's views.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
2 hours ago
- Time of India
‘The Soviet Union rejected capitalism — yet, it caused huge carbon pollution'
Andy Bruno, Stephen F. Cohen Chair of Russian History at Indiana University Bloomington Andy Bruno is Stephen F. Cohen Chair of Russian History at Indiana University Bloomington. Speaking to Srijana Mitra Das at Times Evoke , he discusses Soviet environmental history — and why this matters today: What is the core of your research? My work studies human-environmental relationships that occupied the Soviet Union , going back into imperial Russia and forward to this day. Can you outline Kamchatka's earthquake? by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Nikita Stephanie Shares Her Journey Solitaire Read More Undo The Kamchatka region is very far to the east. It's an extremely volcanic area, sparsely populated and difficult to access. It's quite natural in terms of its ecosystems. Russia isn't necessarily known for earthquakes — so, this fault off the coast of Kamchatka is interesting. THE HEAT IS ON: Russia faces a dilemma — while it contributes to global warming through fossil fuels, Siberia is heating up faster than many other parts of the world You've studied Tsarist Russia becoming the USSR — did views about nature also change? There were continuities and disruptions. Imperial Russia had a strong modernising impulse, a desire to conquer nature and put it under human economic dominance. However, the Soviet project was framed as a departure from capitalism — it aimed to get rid of exploitations Soviet leaders believed existed in the Tsarist era. There were two impulses — the first was the Soviet desire to conquer the natural world. The second was to establish a balance where Soviet society could have a lot in common with what we call 'sustainable development' now — here, humans could somehow take from nature while having it flourish as well by being rational agents. What were interactions with industrialising places like the Kola Peninsula like? Other than a few Sami groups, Kola hadn't had people for millennia. It had less than 10,000 people at the 19th century's start — yet, it became the most built-up Arctic region in the world during the Soviet era. Nuclear power plants, hydroelectric facilities, copper mining, phosphates, rare earths, etc., developed. An entire militarised infrastructure took root — Kola was almost a microcosm of the developmentalist vision of the Soviet Union because you had a place with very little going on, where they developed a particular socialist type of industry. Were there similarities and differences on the environment between the Soviet Union and the United States as they grew? They both put growth and the economic use of nature first — conservation was a second-tier priority. Hence, they both went through the great acceleration of ramped-up production and environmental impacts post-WWII. They both thus enter the Anthropocene as active agents. However, there was a rationale behind the Soviets that gave them a different texture. Everything, from the nature preserves across the USSR, which were more about science than tourism compared to the US, to environmentalist discourse becoming widespread in the 1960s1970s, shows how ecology was thought about. There was a good deal of embracing nature rhetorically — but also not necessarily embracing the strictest conservation measures. The Soviet Union had rigorous environmental laws — which were often not enforced. Everyone was supposed to help nature, an aim propagandised all over the place — but very little happened to people who didn't follow that. This was different from the polarised debate on environmentalism which emerged in the United States. Did Chernobyl have a legacy? There was a major change with it — they first tried to keep it secret, then, it became open to the public. Chernobyl single-handedly helped to turn the world away from nuclear energy for a while. It also led to many exposes. There had been nuclear disasters earlier, like 1957's explosion in Mayak — those were kept secret. Of course, Chernobyl happened in 1986, shortly before the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. It seems impactful — but, if the USSR survived, it might have been more of a blip. Can you tell us about animals in Russia? For a long time, there's been a fascination with various animals, from bears, which have a common connotation for Russia, to birds in Siberia , tigers, reindeer, etc. There's also been hunting culture in the Tsarist and Soviet eras. Overall though, the landmass was so big, there were places different species could remain relatively unperturbed by humans. Today, the state focuses its conservationist energies on 'charismatic megafauna' — it decides, for instance, 'We're going to save the tiger' and creates a reserve. This shows an environmental politics but one less threatening to economic interests because these activities are in distant locations. That happened in the Soviet Union too — many activist efforts were around things like shaming poachers and not criticising big polluting factories. How is Siberia viewed? There is interesting thinking about the Siberian landscape — it's seen as both a heaven and a hell, a place of natural abundance and of exile and punishment, whether in the Tsarist period or the gulag camps of the Soviets. I've written about the site of the 1908 Tunguska explosion in remote Siberia. Here, the largest asteroid explosion in modern times occurred — it fascinated generations of Soviet researchers who thought it was a meteorite, a comet, aliens. They created this whole culture of voluntary expeditions spending time in Tunguska, looking for clues. A very distinctive environmental relationship emerged, also shaping Soviet science, amateurism and voluntary effort. What role do indigenous groups play? Some have a voice with organisations speaking for them. Sometimes, those are captured by the state but they still have representatives. During the Soviet period, there was this dual sense of thinking, 'We must uplift these people but also modernise them.' Earlier, the Soviet authorities didn't look at indigenous populations as an enemy. But then, their politics forced them into collective farms, reduced their cultural autonomy and, in the 1930s, oppressed some. Through these experiences, indigenous groups developed different politics — some aligned with the Soviet system, feeling, 'Well, at least, we have some social security in this.' Things were certainly different in the 1990s when the Soviets collapsed and economic precarity arose. Today, the indigenous peoples of Siberia have less of a sense of being part of a global indigenous movement and more of being their own groups. LIFE AFTER UKRAINE: Russia is castigated for sending out 'ghost fleets' of oil Can you discuss climate change in Russia today, Siberia being among the fastest-heating regions on Earth? There are some renewable energy campaigns. Importantly, Soviet scientists played a very important role in helping to understand global warming worldwide and within Russia itself. There is wariness though about being too worried — Vladimir Putin apparently joked that we'd like it if it was a little bit warmer here. That shifted the discourse to some concern but not in a very radical way. A TINGE OF GOLD: Russia also earns through wheat and mineral deposits Why is the environmental history of the Soviet empire important today? It connects with the ways market eco-nomies and capitalism are organised today, the systems of our world which are structured towards certain kinds of energy politics and economic policies. The Soviet Union was a state that was trying to not put profit over everything — yet, it ends up becoming one of the biggest carbon polluters on Earth. There's much to be gained from thinking about what state socialism was earlier for where we might go today. Views expressed are personal
Economic Times
11 hours ago
- Economic Times
EAM Dr S Jaishankar, NSA Doval plan trips to Russia this month
Synopsis India is reinforcing its longstanding relationship with Russia, planning high-level visits to Moscow despite pressure from the US to reduce oil imports. National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will discuss defense collaboration, regional issues, Arctic cooperation, and increased trade. ANI External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar New Delhi: India is keeping its ties with Russia steady with high level visits planned to Moscow this month amid US President Donald Trump's demand asking to reduce oil imports from Russia and threatening penalties if New Delhi failed to do Security Adviser Ajit Doval and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar are planning Moscow trips this month, ET has learnt. While Doval could visit Moscow in early part of this month, Jaishankar is planning a trip to Russia mid-August, it has been further defence industry collaboration besides regional situation will be big on the agenda when Doval meets his Russian counterpart, according to persons familiar with the are reports that India is looking to purchase additional S-400 defence systems which had contributed to India's success during Operation Sindoor. India also plans to have MRO facilities for S-400 here. There are also unconfirmed reports that India is exploring purchase of Su-57 fighter jets from in the resource rich Arctic region and increasing Indian exports to Russia will figure high on the agenda when Jaishankar meets his counterpart Sergey Lavrov besides First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov. On Friday while defending ties with Russia MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, "India and Russia have a steady and time-tested partnership." "Our bilateral relationships with various countries stand on their own merit and should not be seen from the prism of a third country."India will host the next edition of the annual India-Russia summit this year that will enable President Vladimir Putin to travel to New Delhi for the first time since industry ties, energy ties in the backdrop of recent EU sanctions, civil nuclear partnership, Arctic cooperation besides joint roadmap for cooperation in the high-tech sector will be on the agenda of the Summit, ET had reported last monthFood security could also be on the agenda of the Summit. Putin recently mentioned following Modi's direct request, Russia increased exports of fertilisers to other issues, Russia wants India to increase its presence in a big way in the resource rich Arctic region and earmark a second site for the nuclear power plant even as it has established its presence in the Small Modular Reactor workforce is increasing in the Russian construction and textile sector and a formal agreement on manpower could be inked during the summit.
Time of India
11 hours ago
- Time of India
EAM Dr S Jaishankar, NSA Doval plan trips to Russia this month
India is reinforcing its longstanding relationship with Russia, planning high-level visits to Moscow despite pressure from the US to reduce oil imports. National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will discuss defense collaboration, regional issues, Arctic cooperation, and increased trade. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads New Delhi: India is keeping its ties with Russia steady with high level visits planned to Moscow this month amid US President Donald Trump's demand asking to reduce oil imports from Russia and threatening penalties if New Delhi failed to do Security Adviser Ajit Doval and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar are planning Moscow trips this month, ET has learnt. While Doval could visit Moscow in early part of this month, Jaishankar is planning a trip to Russia mid-August, it has been further defence industry collaboration besides regional situation will be big on the agenda when Doval meets his Russian counterpart, according to persons familiar with the are reports that India is looking to purchase additional S-400 defence systems which had contributed to India's success during Operation Sindoor. India also plans to have MRO facilities for S-400 here. There are also unconfirmed reports that India is exploring purchase of Su-57 fighter jets from in the resource rich Arctic region and increasing Indian exports to Russia will figure high on the agenda when Jaishankar meets his counterpart Sergey Lavrov besides First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Friday while defending ties with Russia MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, "India and Russia have a steady and time-tested partnership." "Our bilateral relationships with various countries stand on their own merit and should not be seen from the prism of a third country."India will host the next edition of the annual India-Russia summit this year that will enable President Vladimir Putin to travel to New Delhi for the first time since industry ties, energy ties in the backdrop of recent EU sanctions, civil nuclear partnership, Arctic cooperation besides joint roadmap for cooperation in the high-tech sector will be on the agenda of the Summit, ET had reported last monthFood security could also be on the agenda of the Summit. Putin recently mentioned following Modi's direct request, Russia increased exports of fertilisers to other issues, Russia wants India to increase its presence in a big way in the resource rich Arctic region and earmark a second site for the nuclear power plant even as it has established its presence in the Small Modular Reactor workforce is increasing in the Russian construction and textile sector and a formal agreement on manpower could be inked during the summit.
