INDIA – TURKMENISTAN

INDIA – TURKMENISTAN

India and Turkmenistan share close, friendly, and historical ties with deep-rooted cultural and civilizational connections. India was among the first countries to recognize Turkmenistan’s independence in 1991 and established diplomatic relations in 1992. India considers Turkmenistan part of its extended neighborhood.

Major Initiatives

1. Connect Central Asia Policy: A broad-based approach that includes political, security, economic, and cultural connections, envisioning deeper relations with Turkmenistan.
2. International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC): This corridor connects India, Russia, Central Asia, and Europe via Iran, with plans to include Turkmenistan’s Chabahar port in the framework.
3. TAPI (Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India) Project: A pipeline project to transport 33 billion cubic meters of gas from Turkmenistan’s Galkynysh gas field to South Asia.
4. Ashgabat Agreement: India joined this in 2018 to establish an international multimodal transport and transit corridor linking Central Asia with the Persian Gulf.

Areas of Cooperation

1. Political Relations: Institutional mechanisms like Foreign Office Consultations (FOC) and Inter-Governmental Commission (IGC) foster bilateral cooperation.
   • Example: Cooperation under the India-Central Asia Dialogue.
2. Trade & Commercial Relations: The trade volume in 2019-20 was approximately $29.97 million, with India recording a surplus of $22.83 million.
   • Example: Imports include electronic items, machinery, and chemicals, while exports to Turkmenistan include fertilizers, cotton, and inorganic chemicals.
3. Education: India offers training programs under the ITEC initiative and scholarships for Turkmen students for higher education.
4. Culture: The ‘Vishwa Hindi Diwas’ is celebrated in Turkmenistan, and Indian cinema and TV series are popular.
   • Example: Turkmenistan hosts Indian film festivals, and the region’s first Yoga and Traditional Medicine Center was inaugurated in Ashgabat in 2015.

Concerns

• Connectivity Issues: The challenging geographic terrain and tense India-Pakistan border dynamics complicate connectivity, affecting economic cooperation.
• Delay in projects: Planned connectivity projects are facing serious financial, political, and security challenges, frustrating oil and gas diplomacy.
  • Example: TAPI Project.
• Unrealised trade potential: Besides the physical barriers, factors such as trade regulatory hindrances and political fragility have often created obstacles in the free flow of trade.
• Security challenges: It include international terrorism, cross border terrorism, extremism, radicalisation, illegal migration, trafficking in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, and transnational organised crime.

Way Forward

• Strengthening Connectivity: Turkmenistan has shown readiness to join the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) and is considering linking the Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran railway.
• TAPI Gas Pipeline Project: Turkmenistan supports India’s proposal to ensure security and integrity by integrating “Business Principles” into agreements related to TAPI.
• Increasing Cooperation in Various Sectors: Energy, petrochemicals, transport, communications, IT, textiles, pharmaceuticals, renewable energy, etc., have potential for enhanced cooperation.
• Multisectoral Cooperation: Turkmenistan is interested in joining the International Solar Alliance (ISA) and the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI).
• Strengthening Ties at Geo-Political Level: Shared interests in global geopolitical and economic issues suggest deeper cooperation through international organizations like the UN.
• Cultural Cooperation: Promoting cultural ties through film festivals, museum partnerships, literary translations, and manuscript digitization can strengthen relations.