‘Central Asia, India road link to be developed’

Chandigarh, March 15 The International North-South Transport Corridor linking Central Asia with India will soon be developed to give a further boost to economic and trade ties, said Union Minister for Extenal Affairs Pranab Mukherjee today. He was in the city to inaugurate a conference on ‘Cooperative development and peace in Central Asia’ at the Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development (CRRID).

“The absence of direct surface transportation routes has been a major handicap in furthering economic and trade ties between India and Central Asia. The recent steps taken by Kazakhastan, Turkmenistan and Russia to increase road and rail connectivity may help in the development of the corridor,” said Mukherjee.

He added that India has cooperated in the progress of its neighbouring regions. “Central Asia has been one of the largest beneficiaries of the Indian technical and economic cooperation programme,” said the minister. India is also looking to set up a regional centre in Central Asia to start English language, entrepreneurship development and technical courses.

Executive Vice-President of CRRID, Rashpal Malhotra, said: “The main aim of the conference is to examine various ways in which India could engage and connect with Central Asia. This would require an understanding of the international environment, economic trends and interests of other global powers. As our purpose is to engage Central Asia, it is imperative for them to know how ‘central’ the region is to India in the context of development.”