The opening up of relations will have substantial benefits for India to expand its cultural, political and economic linkages with Central Asian region. Efforts must be made to harness the potential

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been extremely active in travelling to various countries round the world with which India either has already or needs to develop closer relations. While his visit to the US, which from all accounts has been extremely successful, will receive heightened interest from the media and the public in this country, there is another visit that the Prime Minister made recently which merits detailed analysis and comment.

Prime Minister Modi travelled to Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, essentially to mark India’s entry as a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and to participate in the opening of Expo 2017. While there has been some comment on how India’s entry would have a major impact on the SCO itself, possibly bringing India closer to China, what in this writer’s view is even more significant is the opportunity to develop closer relations with Kazakhstan.

Kazakhstan, among the former Soviet Republics, has been by several measures the most successful country in the whole group, both in terms of economic progress that it has achieved and prominence it has attained in the international arena. President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s leadership has been a crucial part of Kazakhstan’s progress, as he has been the President of that country since it attained independence after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

One of the first decisions that President Nazarbayev took was to close many nuclear test sites that existed on its territory during the Soviet period. The year 2016 marked the 25th anniversary of closure of the world’s largest nuclear test site, and this symbolic move has been reinforced by Kazakhstan and its leadership being identified with diverse efforts to promote world peace in every possible manner.

Some, particularly in the Western world, are critical of President Nazarbayev’s quarter century as President of the country, but if one looks at the history of nations that have been built or rebuilt, strong leadership and continuity have been essential ingredients of the emergence of nations in strong positions of economic standing and in building institutions that withstand the test of time.

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was President of Turkey from 1923 to 1938, Bismarck was Chancellor of Germany from 1871 to 1890, and both are regarded as the early builders of their respective countries. After the Second World War, Konrad Adenauer, who was the Chancellor from 1949 to 1963, is credited with re-building of the Federal Republic of Germany as an industrial power, after it suffered the trauma of Germany’s division between east and west and destruction of its infrastructure during the war.

Kazakhstan is the dominant power in Central Asia, and its per capita income is already in excess of $11,000, which is far above that of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan respectively which are just above $2,000 each.

Given India’s deep interest and engagement in Afghanistan, a closer economic and political relationship with Kazakhstan is clearly in India’s interest.  The country has a population of about 18 million and a vast land area which ranks ninth in size in the world, just a little less than the land area of India, which ranks seventh in the world. India has substantial opportunities for investments in Kazakhstan, possible assistance in development of scientific and technological skills and increase in overall trade with that country, which is extremely rich in minerals and possesses substantial potential for enhanced cooperation in the agricultural sector.

The growing season in Kazakhstan is, no doubt, very short given the harsh winter that most of the country experiences, but in a world with a rapidly growing population, and being in the neighborhood of both Russia and China, Kazakhstan has major opportunities for supply of food grains to both its neighbors in the future. Russia is currently an exporter of food, but projections indicate that it may have deficits in the future.  China is already a major importer of food, and as a result of the impacts of climate change its agricultural yields are likely to decline in the future, particularly in the western part of the country.

Kazakhstan’s leadership needs to be complimented on developing a vision of the future, which is defined in the document entitled “Kazakhstan 2050” based on the identification of seven long term priorities. The theme of Expo 2017, which is currently being held in Astana, is “Future Energy”. Kazakhstan is a major producer and exporter of hydrocarbons, but the country's leadership has clearly laid down plans for tapping renewable sources of energy, such as wind and solar, because it sees itself as a globally significant adherent to the goals set by the Paris agreement on climate change, and as an early innovator towards sustainable patterns of energy supply and consumption.

These plans represent a sector in which India could be an important partner not only in the supply of energy from renewable sources but also in bringing about significant increases in the efficiency of energy use throughout the country.

Quite apart from the economic opportunities and benefits from a closer relationship between India and Kazakhstan, the political benefits for India would be significant, such as coordinated action to deal with fundamentalism and the threat of terrorism. Islam is the largest religion practiced in Kazakhstan, since over 70 per cent of the population is Muslim, with a dominance of Sunnis, but the extent of religious tolerance in the country is noteworthy and commendable. There is a small number of Shias and some Ahmadi Muslims against whom there is no evidence of discrimination or isolation. Kazakhstan could be an important partner for India in social and cultural exchanges as well, because Kazakh society exhibits richness of cultural values and practice, which would support strong cultural ties with Indian society.

Overall, the opening with Kazakhstan would have substantial benefits for India expanding its cultural, political and economic linkages with the entire Central Asian region. The period since the breakup of the Soviet Union has seen the emergence of Kazakhstan as a significant nation straddling the continents of Asia and Europe.

Building a stronger relationship with Kazakhstan and its leadership would have mutual benefits for both countries and strategic significance for India as the Indian economy grows and its strategic interests diversify to cover the entire Central Asian region. The Prime Minister’s visit should now be followed up with concrete actions to harness the potential that is evident in an expanded relationship between the two countries.

(The writer is former chairman, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2002-15)