Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs in J&K

On June 19 2026 the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs headed by Congress leader Shashi Tharoor received an elaborate briefing from senior officials as part of preparations for the committee rsquo s June 22 ndash 25 visit to Jammu and Kashmir Members of the committee sought information on several key concerns of Indian foreign policy and bilateral relations Questions were raised regarding India rsquo s security centric Pakistan policy and the future of cross Line of Control LoC links The members also sought briefings on Pakistan administered Kashmir the Indus Waters issue outreach to Central Asia and Kashmir rsquo s strategic future In my opinion these are also the issues being debated by experts and ordinary citizens alike in the streets and by lanes of Jammu and Kashmir Kashmir rsquo s Central Asia AngleThe Standing Committee on External Affairs exhibited a notable interest in India rsquo s Central Asia policy marking a departure from the focus of previous committees The committee asked why Jammu and Kashmir rarely features prominently in India rsquo s ldquo Connect Central Asia rdquo policy despite its geographic proximity and centuries old commercial and cultural ties with the region They also wanted to know how India rsquo s soft power could be leveraged to strengthen the Kashmir Central Asia connection In this context attention was drawn to the enduring legacy of the 14th century Sufi saint Mir Syed Ali Hamadani whose shrine is located in Kulob Tajikistan This article is a modest attempt to understand India rsquo s Connect Central Asia Policy and its implications An Ad Hoc PolicyIndia rsquo s Connect Central Asia Policy has remained largely ad hoc and marginal over time due to limitations in its neighbourhood policy In recent years however the Government of India hosted the first India Central Asia Virtual Summit on January 27 2022 Earlier the Central Asian leaders had participated in a similar virtual summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping Significantly these summits have now been institutionalized and are held every two years resulting in incremental policy improvements India was among the first countries to recognize the Central Asian republics following the breakup of the Soviet Union Nevertheless India rsquo s presence in the region remains limited India and the Central Asian republics are separated by geopolitical hotspots and natural transit routes remain blocked due to India Pakistan tensions The strategic priority for policymakers in New Delhi should be to deepen cooperation with Central Asia through natural routes and secure greater strategic space to navigate increasing turbulence in regional and global politics Recent disruptions in the international order should encourage greater realism in Indian foreign policy Historical ContextHistorically developments along the northwestern frontier have profoundly influenced the security environment of the Indian subcontinent This geopolitical reality shaped the Mughal Empire the British Empire and the post colonial security landscape Security experts continue to invoke the ldquo Panikkar Thesis rdquo to emphasize that developments in the Kabul Valley have a direct bearing on the Gangetic plains Today the international and regional order remains unsettled The world is moving toward a more complex and unstable multipolar system whose contours are yet to fully emerge The conflict in Ukraine has further intensified these uncertainties Vladimir Lenin once remarked ldquo There are decades when nothing happens and weeks when decades happen rdquo In such a context India rsquo s Connect Central Asia Policy assumes considerable significance As a follow up to the virtual summit process the India Central Asia Secretariat has been established in New Delhi It serves as an institutional mechanism to coordinate diplomatic economic and security cooperation while also enhancing connectivity cultural exchanges and people to people contacts Encouragingly Kazakhstan hosts around 5 000 Indian students while Kyrgyzstan is home to nearly 15 000 Yet these developments alone are unlikely to produce a major breakthrough unless Indian policymakers recognize the broader connectivity challenge The parliamentary committee headed by the seasoned parliamentarian and diplomat Shashi Tharoor also asked during briefing whether India had considered creating organised pilgrimage routes cultural exchange programs and heritage tourism initiatives centered on these historic civilisational links During its visit to Kashmir the committee would do well to interact with faculty members of the Central Asian

...

Studies Centre at the University of Kashmir and engage in a broader discussion on this vital issue A Difficult Road AheadSeveral obstacles hinder the development of smooth and productive relations between India and the Central Asian republics First the lack of direct land access and continuing instability in Afghanistan pose significant challenges Second bilateral trade remains negligible at around 2 billion compared to China rsquo s trade with the region which has exceeded 41 billion and is expected to grow further by 2030 Third routing trade through Chabahar Port requires substantial investment while India faces constraints arising from U S sanctions on Iran Moreover military facilities near the Chabahar Free Trade Zone were reportedly targeted during recent U S Israel airstrikes Fourth the alternative Russia Iran International North South Transport Corridor via Bandar Abbas has yet to become fully operational Fifth the Turkmenistan Afghanistan Pakistan India TAPI gas pipeline project has effectively fallen into oblivion China Dragon nbsp While India continues to deliberate on its future engagement with the region time is not standing still China has emerged as the largest development and infrastructure partner of the Central Asian republics Russia remains highly influential while Pakistan is steadily expanding its

...

contest any attempt by New Delhi to regard Central Asia and South Asia as exclusive spheres of Indian influence ConclusionAt the World Economic Forum Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney warned world leaders that countries caught between the United States and China should avoid negotiating alone As he put it ldquo If you rsquo re not at the table you rsquo re on the menu rdquo India rsquo s neighbourhood policy often appears reactive rather than strategic Prime Minister Narendra Modi may find it worthwhile to revisit his 2015 address to the Afghan Parliament where he stated ldquo In the achievements of the Mauryan Empire and Sher Shah Suri we see the connectivity we now aspire to rebuild and achieve rdquo He also expressed the hope that Pakistan would one day become a bridge between South Asia and Central Asia More recently Prime Minister Modi observed that the world suffers not from a shortage of resources but from a shortage of trust The challenge before India is to translate that trust into a coherent regional strategy mdash one that reconnects South Asia with Central Asia through diplomacy connectivity and sustained engagement Prof Gull Wani is a Kashmir based Political Scientist nbsp