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WhyisNarendraModivisitngCentralAsiaTheHindu

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NATIONAL

NEWDELHI,May21,2015

AcounterpointtoChinasinroads
SUHASINIHAIDAR
BesidesRussia,ModiwillvisitTurkmenistan,Tajikistan,Uzbekistan,Kyrgyztan&Kazakhstan
InavisitreminiscentofformerPrimeMinisterJawaharlalNehrus1955groundbreakingtrip,PrimeMinisterNarendraModiisexpectedto
visitRussiaandfiveCentralAsianstatesinJulythisyear.
Thevisit,toTurkmenistan,Tajikistan,Uzbekistan,Kyrgyztan,andKazakhstanislikelytotakeplaceinthefirsttwoweeksofJuly,timed
aroundtheBRICSandSCOsummitsintheRussiancityofUfafromJuly9to10,sourcesconfirmedtoTheHindu.
ThePrimeMinisterisexpectedtobreakupthetouroftheStans,astheformerSovietrepublicsincentralAsiaareknown,visitingtwo
countriesbeforehisvisittoUfa,andthethreeremainingonesafter.
Energyonagenda
DiplomaticsourcessaidthePrimeMinistersvisittothe5states,whichwaslastdonebyPMNehruinJune1955,willhaveathreefoldfocus:
energy,exports,andasacounterpointtoChinasinroadsintheregion.Betweenthem,thefivestatescontrolthemostenergydiverseandoil
richpartsoftheworld,withKazakhstanamajoroilproducer,TurkmenistanandUzbekistanwiththebiggestnaturalgasreserves,and
TajikistanandKyrgyztanunderstoodtohaveconsiderableuntappedreserves.
WhileNehrucoveredthestatesduringavisittoRussiabytraininabout10days,Mr.Modiisexpectedtospendaboutthreedaystraversing
throughtheseareas.HisvisitwillcomeafterChinesePresidentXiJinpings2013visittoallfiveStanswhenheannouncedbillionsof
dollarsinloanstothecountriestobuildenergyandtransportinfrastructure,aswellasayearafterRussiaandChinaannounceda$400
billiongaspipelinethatwouldcoverallthecentralAsiancountriesinbetween.
FreshfromhisvisittoChina,Mr.ModiwillalsobelookingtoworkinparalleltoChinasSilkRouteinitiative,whichIndiaisyettosignonto.
WhenaskedatapressconferenceinBeijing,ForeignSecretaryS.JaishankarsaidthattheSilkRoadEconomicBelt,oronebeltoneroad
initiativeisyettobediscussedsubstantivelybetweenIndiaandChina.
Itisanationalinitiativeofacountry.Ifanycountrywantsothercountriestodiscussandcollaborateonnationalinitiatives,itisforthe
countrywhichtakestheinitiativetodiscussthatinitiative,headded.
Inthatsense,Mr.ModisvisitwillbeimportantbecauseitwillcovermuchoftheareaChinaencompassesinitsplans.Ifyouseehis
trajectory,fromChina,toMongolia,toCentralAsia,thePMsplansarequiteclosetothatoftheSREB,anofficialinvolvedintheplanning
said.
ThevisittoUfafortheSCO(ShanghaiCooperationOrganisation)andBRICSsummitswillbenolessimportant.TheprocesstoelevateIndia
andPakistanfromobserverstomembersisalsoexpectedtogetunderwayduringthecurrentSCOsummit,anditisthefirsttimethe
IndianPMwillattendthegroupingofRussia,China,andfouroftheStans(Kazakhstan,Uzbekistan,Tajikistan,Kyrgyztan).Notonlythat,
thevisitcouldofferachanceforameetingwithPakistanPrimeMinisterNawazSharif.AccordingtoofficialsinIslamabad,adecisiononMr.
SharifsattendanceattheSCOsummitwouldbetakeninthenextweek.
Surgeingoodwill
Finally,Mr.ModiwillhaveanextendedmeetingwithPresidentPutinonplanstofurtherIndiaRussiaties,thathaveseenasurgeingoodwill
afterthegovernmentsentPresidentPranabMukherjeetoattendthe70thcommemorationofworldwarIIinMoscow,despiteaboycottfrom
westerncountries.Lastweek,PresidentPutintelephonedMr.Moditothankhimforthehighlevelrepresentation,saidaKremlin
statement,addingthatMr.PutinandMr.ModidiscussedstepstofurtherdeveloptheprivilegedstrategicpartnershipbetweenRussiaand
India,aswellasseverallargejointtradeandeconomicprojects.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/acounterpointtochinasinroads/article7228668.ece

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