In the wake of recent efforts by Central Asian leaders to open new trade routes to Pakistan, India is stepping up its diplomatic engagement with regional governments.
Trade volume between India and the five Central Asian states totaled close to $2.5 billion in 2025, roughly triple that of Pakistan. But regional leaders have articulated plans in recent months to rapidly increase trade with Islamabad.
That seems to have provided impetus for a flurry of Indian diplomatic activity. Over the past 10 days, Indian officials have held talks with officials from Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan looking to diversify commercial ties beyond primarily the energy and pharmaceutical sectors. No specific deals have been announced.
Regional observers are expecting an upcoming meeting of Indian-Uzbek Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, scheduled for April in Tashkent, to catalyze deal-making. In connection with that meeting, Uzbek officials and representatives of India’s Chamber of Commerce have discussed the organization of two business forums, one in the Uzbek capital and another in Samarkand.
Elsewhere, India’s envoy to Turkmenistan, Bandaru Wilsonbabu, held talks with various top Turkmen government officials about developing trade in such sectors as chemicals, fertilizers, transportation and telecoms. Ashgabat is already working on construction of a pipeline to enable Turkmen natural gas to traverse Afghanistan and reach markets in Pakistan and India.
On the sidelines of an international conference sponsored by India’s Ministry of Power on March 22, Indian officials discussed potential electricity-sector cooperation with Tajik and Kyrgyz officials. The Tajik government is exploring potential deals with Tata Power, a component of the Indian conglomerate, to develop renewable energy capacity and improve the efficiency of the country’s electricity distribution network.
Kyrgyzstan, meanwhile, is interested in attracting Indian investment in the long-standing Casa-1000 hydropower project that would enable the export of electricity generated in Central Asia to Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.
Meanwhile, Kazakhstan, currently India’s second largest individual trade partner among Central Asian states, is considering a blockbuster agreement involving the export of large amounts of uranium concentrate to India. The deal is potentially worth upwards of $3 billion. The Kazakh nuclear energy agency, Kazatomprom, has scheduled a vote of its stakeholders for April 7. Approval is widely expected, given that the state-run sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna, a majority shareholder in Kazatomprom, is reportedly favoring the deal.
India’s outreach appears motivated in part by recent Central Asian efforts to upgrade relations with New Delhi’s arch-rival Pakistan, a country that can offer the landlocked region much-desired access to a seaport, enabling an expansion of trade with the broader world. Over the past four months, the presidents of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan have all made ground-breaking visits to Islamabad. In early February, Uzbekistan set a target of increasing bilateral trade turnover from roughly $400 million in 2025 to $2 billion by 2030.
By Eurasianet
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