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Times of India (25 January 2022)

Ahead of the first India-Central Asia summit, China will virtually host its own summit with the five central Asian countries — Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan — on Tuesday to commemorate the 30th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic ties between the two sides.

President Xi Jinping will chair the summit, said Chinese foreign ministry, adding that this will be China’s first major diplomatic action “facing central Asia” this year and the first heads-of-state meeting between China and the five countries. Significantly, it comes just two days ahead of India’s scheduled first-ever summit with the same countries on January 27.

The government had last week said the first India-Central Asia Summit was a reflection of India’s growing engagement with the central Asian countries. India had also proposed a visit by the central Asian leaders for a summit meeting with PM Narendra Modi and also for participation in the Republic Day parade as chief guests.

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