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July to September 2026 · Global Affairs and International Relations › India and world regions › Central Asia · Prelims
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हिन्दी — Read in HindiCentral Asia
India and Central Asia: energy, connectivity and security.
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India and Central Asia
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LeadIndia and Central Asia: the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with UzbekistanAugust 2026
Why in news
On 30 August 2026, in Tashkent, India and Uzbekistan raised their relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, set a trade target of 5 billion dollars a year by 2030, and agreed a framework for the long term supply of uranium to India.
Background
- India's Connect Central Asia policy dates from 2012; an India Central Asia Summit at the level of leaders met first in 2022.
- Uzbekistan is the most populous Central Asian state and the only one that borders all four others and Afghanistan. It is one of two doubly landlocked countries in the world.
- India and Uzbekistan became strategic partners in 2011; this upgrade marked fifteen years.
- Four of the five Central Asian states, all but Turkmenistan, are members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation with India.
What was agreed
- Trade: a 5 billion dollar target against a little over 1 billion now, steps towards a preferential trade agreement, and a council of foreign ministers to steer the relationship.
- Energy and minerals: uranium for India's civil nuclear programme, and joint work on critical minerals.
- Digital: Indian payment apps can pay at Uzbek merchants by scanning the national quick response (QR) code.
- Culture: restoration of the Buddhist sites of Fayaz Tepa and Kara Tepa near Termez, and a grant for afforestation around the Aral Sea.
- Security: zero tolerance of terrorism; the Dustlik military exercise; Uzbek support for India's permanent seat at the Security Council.
India's stakes
- Central Asia is energy and mineral rich, borders Afghanistan, and is contested by China's Belt and Road and Russia's security presence.
- Uranium from Uzbekistan adds to supply from Kazakhstan and Russia, and to the Australian supply that awaits contracts.
The connectivity constraint
- Pakistan denies India overland transit, so every land route runs through Iran: Chabahar port and the International North South Transport Corridor to Russia and Central Asia.
- Both are exposed to the West Asia war and to American sanctions; the Chabahar waiver lapsed in April 2026.
- The Ashgabat Agreement, which India joined in 2018, is a partial answer.
- So the 5 billion dollar target is hostage to events in Iran.
The way forward
- Make the Iranian route dependable: a settled status for Chabahar and regular corridor shipments.
- Trade services and pharmaceuticals, which do not need a land route, and build on digital payments.
- Use the India Central Asia Summit to act with all five states together on connectivity and terrorism.
Prelims facts
- Uzbekistan and Liechtenstein are the world's two doubly landlocked countries.
- India and Uzbekistan: strategic partners 2011, Comprehensive Strategic Partners 30 August 2026.
- The Order of Oliy Darajali Do'stlik is Uzbekistan's highest honour.
- Fayaz Tepa and Kara Tepa are Buddhist sites near Termez.
- The joint exercise is Dustlik; the first India Central Asia Summit was in 2022.
India's Connect Central Asia policy dates from 2012; an India Central Asia Summit at the level of leaders met first in 2022.