Disintegration of Union of Soviet Socialist Republic in 1991, led to the emergence of fifteen new sovereign republics on the political map of the world. Among them, five Central Asian Republics (CARs) i.e. Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan acquired an independent status. The geo-strategic importance of Central Asia region was recognized much before these nations became part of the Soviet Russia as it was not only on the crossroads of the ancient Silk Route but also formed part of the region where the Great Game, between Russian and the British empire, was played in the nineteenth century. During the Soviet regime presence of unprecedented resources made CARs a conspicuous attraction for the Soviet Duma. Old players have been replaced by new players in the region who are fighting the traditional war now referred to as "The New Great Game", due to the changed rules of the international system. This development has falsified the Francis Fukoyama's thesis of the end of the history.
According to many current international estimates, globally China is number two and India is number six energy consumer. Due to the expanding economy of both countries and their aspirations of becoming the world power in next 20 years, the energy needs are likely to be ten rounds more than the present level.
Geographically, Central Asia is the immediate neighbor of China and extended neighbour of India.
In the present scenario the importance of the region for India and China, a reason for competition and cooperation between the two, arises due to few factors: first, the presence of natural resources like natural gas, oil, dense river network and fertile soil; the rise of Islamic extremism; geo-political status of these countries form a buffer zone between the east and west; economic importance as the region facilitates potential cross-road of commerce and trades between east and west and between north and south (Silk Route); and the desire of international actors to balance the power struggle in the region.
Despite the fact that bilateral trade between India and China has already crossed US$ 20 billion mark in the current financial year and as President Hu Zintao has declared in his November 2006 New Delhi visit that it will be double in next four years, the fact remains that how long India and China will be able to sustain present euphoria of bilateral relations. We can not avoid pondering over the history and present issues of Indo-Chinese relation that are based on the foundation that includes thorny border issue; Pakistan factor; defence that includes nuclear weapons and arms race including the Chinese recent ascent anti-satellite space test (ASAT) on 11 January 2007 where Bejing’s went ahead with “hard kill” (shooting down the satellite) rather than “soft kill” (using laser to disable the satellite for a limited purpose); and the continuous struggle between the two nations to maintain spheres of political, economic, psychological and ideological influence in South Asia.
With regard to Central Asia, ethnically it shares traditional linkages and resemblance with both India and China. Economically Central Asia needs massive investment to develop their infrastructure especially in science and technology sector to further explore and exploit its rich resources. The presence of both India and China will not only help in the economic development but will also alleviate balance of power in Central Asia.
Although the competition between India and China seems to be hypothetical at this point of time due to China having an edge over India both economically and strategically. India needs to do extraordinary hard work to cope with the situation.
Despite the fact that bilateral trade between India and China has already crossed US$ 20 billion mark in the current financial year and as President Hu Zintao has declared in his November 2006 New Delhi visit that it will be double in next four years, the fact remains that how long India and China will be able to sustain present euphoria of bilateral relations. We can not avoid pondering over the history and present issues of Indo-Chinese relation that are based on the foundation that includes thorny border issue; Pakistan factor; defence that includes nuclear weapons and arms race including the Chinese recent ascent anti-satellite space test (ASAT) on 11 January 2007 where Bejing’s went ahead with “hard kill” (shooting down the satellite) rather than “soft kill” (using laser to disable the satellite for a limited purpose); and the continuous struggle between the two nations to maintain spheres of political, economic, psychological and ideological influence in South Asia.
With regard to Central Asia, ethnically it shares traditional linkages and resemblance with both India and China. Economically Central Asia needs massive investment to develop their infrastructure especially in science and technology sector to further explore and exploit its rich resources. The presence of both India and China will not only help in the economic development but will also alleviate balance of power in Central Asia.
Although the competition between India and China seems to be hypothetical at this point of time due to China having an edge over India both economically and strategically. India needs to do extraordinary hard work to cope with the situation.
