New great game asia

The way different major powers have engaged with the region has also differed as the stakes for each of these powers are different. India and Central Asia share historical and cultural linkages of around two thousand years. Right from the Kushana Empire in ancient India to the Mughal Empire in the Medieval Age, the connectivity between the two regions has been very high.

After the disintegration of the USSR in , followed by the emergence of five new independent nation-states namely, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, India established diplomatic relations with each of these countries. India did not take much interest in the region in the s. The security of Central Asia and that of India got closely connected. While the US has been involved primarily to suit its business, economic and financial interests, for Russia, the region is its strategic backyard and a sphere of influence….

This was specially to keep a check on the cross-border terrorism which was sustained by fundamentalist forces and the rise of extremism in the region. Once that happened, India chose to co-operate with the Central Asian states on various security and defence-related matters. There is no land border between India and the five states of the region. The presence of an adversary like Pakistan has always been a challenge for India to reach Central Asia. Even countries such as Nepal and the Maldives which used to have very cordial relations with India are now tilting towards China.

India wants that sphere to be in Central Asia for two reasons. One, even if India loses out to China some influence in its immediate neighbourhood and Indian Ocean Region, India could compensate it by having an influence in Central Asia. Secondly, if India manages to keep things intact in its neighbourhood and also increases its influence in the Central Asian Region, that would make the situation even better for India.

Moreover, Russia after realizing that it alone cannot scupper the hegemonic plan of America has now tilted towards those states which share its concern over the US penetration into central Asia. This perception of Russia has brought it closer to China which also wants to contain growing American influence in the region.

The mutual cooperation of Russia and China to counter American moves is conspicuous in the shape of SCO Shanghai corporation organization of which they are the founding members. Read more: Turkish-Chinese spat puts Central Asian leaders on the spot.

America, another big player and the formidable rival of both China and Russia is also deeply interested in this new great game.

Its first priority in the region was to obliterate the communist ideology from Central Asia and to introduce capitalism or market-based economy through liberal political and economic reforms. The Pentagon quickly negotiated basing deals in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan to supply its war effort; as well as protecting its commercial interests in the energy-rich Caspian basin and securing its supply lines to Afghanistan. Additionally, it is also now an open fact that Washington too has unambiguous interests in the energy resources of central Asia for it has found yet an alternative to Middle East hydrocarbon resources.

It has, therefore, entered into many agreements with CARS Central Asian Republics to fulfill its desire to have as much share from available energy reservoirs as possible. To this end, America is eager to establish its hegemony over the region so that it could earn an uninterrupted supply of the energy to meet its requirements.

Read more: Kazakhstan: weakened oil power in Central Asia. To counter the American imperialistic designs, China and Russia have entered into a marriage of convenience. They have formed a synergy to shatter the American dreams in the region. While China does not seem as driven by aggressive anti-western sentiment as Russia does, Beijing and Moscow share the strategic goal: to reduce western influence particularly the Americanization of the world.

China delivers the capital to bolster new alliances whereas Russia delivers political poison to weaken the old ones. It is a perfect match. It is an unlikely 21st-century nexus. In , following the brutal suppression of a pro-democracy uprising, a new junta took power, agreeing to cease fires with former communist and ethnic insurgents and seeking to unwind years of self-imposed isolation.

But its repressive policies soon led to Western sanctions and this, together with growing corruption and continued mismanagement, meant that any hope of even economic improvement quickly dimmed. By the mids the view of Burma in the West became fairly set — a timeless backwater, brutal and bankrupt, the realm of juntas and drug lords, as well as courageous pro-democracy activists, led by Aung San Suu Kyi.

China, however, viewed things differently. Where the West saw a problem and offered mainly platitudes and a little aid, China recognized an opportunity and began changing facts on the ground. Beginning in the mids, China began unveiling plans to join its interior to the shores of the Indian Ocean. By the mids, these plans were being turned into reality. New highways are starting to slice through the highlands of Burma, linking the Chinese hinterland directly to both India and the warm waters of the Bay of Bengal.

Soon, journeys that once took months to make may soon be completed in less than a day. By , Chinese planners have declared, it will be possible to travel by train all the way from Rangoon to Beijing, part of a grand route they say will one day extend to Delhi and from there to Europe.

Chinese authorities have long been vexed by the soaring gap in income between its prosperous eastern cities and provinces and the many poor and backward areas to the west. What China is lacking is another coast to provide its remote interior with an outlet to the sea and to its growing markets around the world.

Chinese academics have written about a "Two Oceans" policy. The first is the Pacific. The second would be the Indian Ocean. In this vision, Burma becomes a new bridge to the Bay of Bengal and the seas beyond. For Chinese strategists, the strait is a natural choke point where future enemies could cut off foreign energy supplies. An alternative route needed to be found.

Meanwhile, India has its own ambitions. However, due to the prevalence of rugged mountains and lack of sea access, Central Asia has inadequate connections and routes.

Inarguably, the flashpoint for the initiation of the new Great Game is equated to the narrow strip of land under the sovereignty of Afghanistan, coined as the geo-strategically significant Wakhan corridor. Historically, the region fell victim to the Great Game by the hands of the British and Russian Empires, and the contemporary dynamics assert a similar pattern. Since these steps directly challenge the interests of India and the USA, the region may serve as the flashpoint for the new Great Game between numerous conflict actors.

China aims to revive the former Silk route by constructing a highway through the Wakhjir pass in the Wakhan corridor. Subsequently, Central Asian states will be linked via the Karakoram and Kashgar highway, marking the shortest and cheapest trade route with Pakistan and China. Along the same lines, the Wakhan corridor offers economic perspectives for Pakistan too, because strides towards transit economy, job generation, foreign revenue, and regional connectivity shall be undertaken.

The establishment of a route shall integrate the strategic corridors of Central Asian states, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and China. Nevertheless, the ambitions affiliated with the Wakhan corridor, carry illustrations of projecting the new Great Game. To begin, this notion directly challenges the national interests of India, since efforts for linking Afghanistan, India, and the Chabahr port for regional connectivity shall be undermined.

In an attempt to counter the rising influence of China, India has introduced measures to revive historic civilization links with Central Asia.