India-Central Asia Virtual Summit.

Why In News

• Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi hosted the first India-Central Asia Summit in virtual format on 27 January 2022.
• The virtual summit saw the participation of the five presidents — Kazakhstan’s Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Uzbekistan’s Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Emomali Rahmon of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan’s Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow and Sadyr Japarov of Kyrgyz Republic.
• This first India-Central Asia coincided with the 30th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Central Asian countries.

Why it is Important?

• Two days after China held a virtual summit with Central Asian countries, India too stepped in and Prime Minister Narendra Modi pitched for “an integrated approach for regional connectivity and cooperation for the next 30 years.
• The Leaders agreed to institutionalize the Summit mechanism by deciding to hold it every 2 years and also agreed on regular meetings of Foreign Ministers, Trade Ministers, Culture Ministers and Secretaries of the Security Council to prepare the groundwork for the Summit meetings.
• An India-Central Asia Secretariat in New Delhi would be set up to support the new mechanism.
• Prime Minister Modi also discussed the evolving situation in Afghanistan with the Central Asian leaders. The leaders reiterated their strong support for a peaceful, secure and stable Afghanistan with a truly representative and inclusive government.