Latitude: India to play bigger role in Central Asia - 2

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's eight-day visit to five Central Asian countries and Russia has boosted India's multi-directional strategy. Modi's energetic diplomacy last week demonstrated that India can be the fourth seeker of influence there. The reason why Central Asians are eagerly letting India in is because of their widely perceived need for diversification away from the big two China and Russia. India would like to project that it is not replaying the harmful 'Great Game' but providing greater freedom to Central Asia, which treasures its independence. As a relatively declining power in Central Asia vis-a-vis ascendant China, Russia deems a growing Indian footprint there as desirable. During this marathon six-nation tour, Modi invoked India's heritage of moderate Islam and its complementarity with the Sovietised Islam of Central Asia. The real challenge for Indian diplomacy after the PM has done the spade work is to ensure that the SCO and BRICS, whose members issue communiques denouncing religious extremism, walk the talk.