The bilateral agreements signed in New Delhi by President Karimov and President Vajpayee in early May form the foundation of a strategic relationship anchored in shared security interests. These interests involve the containment of cross-border terrorism, Islamic extremism and drug trafficking emanating from Afghanistan and Pakistan. Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan agreed to cooperate with India across a range of issues, including agriculture research, information technology, and mass media. Turkmenistan and India are also discussing new areas of cooperation. The Turkmen and Indian foreign ministers recently discussed proposals to send Indian agricultural experts to advise Turkmenistan on commercial farming techniques, and decided continue discussions on energy cooperation by creating a Joint Working Group on Energy.
Indian strategists see both threats and opportunities in Central Asia.
First, India and the Central Asian states share an interest in controlling the highly unstable situation in and around Afghanistan and Pakistan from which instability could cascade in all directions. Second, Indians are thinking about how to contain China in Central Asia. Indians see the Chinese threat encircling it, as China strengthens its influence in Pakistan, Myanmar, Bangladesh, and Central Asia. Third, Indians see Central Asia as an area where Indian and US interests for the most part coincide and where cooperation is possible. Fourth, since the Soviet failure Central Asia, India had developed a close relationship with Iran, and acknowledges and supports Iran's geo-strategic interests in Central Asia.