The 16th BRICS Summit was hosted by Russia in Kazan on 22-24 October 2024. It was a large gathering of the Global South economies, where leaders from BRICS Members, new members, partner countries, and international organizations, including the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, participated. Significantly, all five Presidents of Central Asian countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan) attended the Summit in extended format together for the first time.
BRICS has evolved since its formation in 2009 and now consists of about 45 per cent of global population and 37% of global GDP. Led by the countries of Global South, the initiative has become an attractive platform for the international community, as it follows a consensus-based approach to build a democratic global order by way of strengthening three pillars of (i) political and security, (ii) economic and financial, and (iii) cultural and people to people cooperation. The grouping aims to pursue a multipolar, just and democratic international order, and it is interacting with countries from different regions of the world, including from Central Asia, to this end.
Central Asia and BRICS
In their multilateral foreign policy engagements, Central Asian countries have either joined various international mechanisms or have launched their own initiatives aimed at promoting cooperation in the region and beyond. The landlocked republics of the region have evinced interest in expanding their interactions with BRICS for achieving faster economic growth through enhanced economic and technological cooperation, diversified markets and improved connectivity, and to contribute to greater regional political stability and security.
Central Asian countries’ approaches towards BRICS reflect their economic and geopolitical interests. The five countries are pursuing regional economic integration and require investments in infrastructure and technology for sustainable development. In their remarks at the Summit, all Central Asian leaders emphasised on economic cooperation. The countries need development financing, means for transition to ‘green’ economy, and for optimal utilization of energy resources for their progress. Sustainable development with environment conservation has been a major regional challenge, to address which they are seeking to interact with BRICS.
BRICS offers great potential for mutual cooperation to the Central Asian regional countries. It has the economic prowess and great potential to power the sustainable growth of emerging economies across the Global South. The ease of financing without intrusive preconditions, prospects of alternative and feasible international payment and money transfer mechanism, growth of the New Development Bank of BRICS, offer great economic prospects with BRICS for developing countries. BRICS can provide assistance in various areas where Central Asian countries are facing challenges. The consensus based decision-making process of BRICS and its focus on promoting inclusive multilateralism could be of particular interest to the Central Asian countries.
BRICS on the other hand, seemingly perceives potential in increasing its interactions with Central Asian region, particularly in energy, trade and connectivity in the critically important central Eurasian landmass. Central Asian countries are rich in energy resources, including hydrocarbons and uranium production. BRICS can become a prominent international energy market player, including in renewable energy, by calibrating its members’ energy demand-supply equilibrium and harnessing the group’s technological development in renewable and green energy areas.
India is a BRICS founder member and holds regular interactions with leaders of Central Asia including through multilateral formats. There is vast potential between India and the Central Asian countries for cooperation in economic, trade and connectivity areas. Central Asian countries also want greater Indian participation in the development of the region.
Among Central Asian countries Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan – the region’s two largest economies – have been granted ‘Partner’ status in BRICS in 2024 along with 11 other countries. Kazakhstan has strong economic relations with BRICS economies as in 2023 they accounted for almost half of the country’s foreign trade turnover. For Uzbekistan, BRICS members are in its top 20 trading partners. Their trade in 2023 increased by 27% and exceeded US $25 billion. In fact, Kazakhstan earlier sought to join BRICS, though it has paused the process for now. However, the possibility of joining as a member continues to exist.
BRICS-Central Asia interaction and the West
In an altered scenario following the Russia-Ukraine war since February 2022, the Central Asian countries, especially Kazakhstan, are treading their international relations cautiously in a charged environment of great power competition dynamics. Since the beginning of the Ukraine conflict, Western powers have renewed their interests in Central Asia, which is evinced in multiple visits to the region and hosting of regional leaders in Western capitals in 2023 and 2024. In September 2023, US President Joe Biden hosted the inaugural C5+1 Presidential Summit with all five Presidents from the region in New York.
Central Asian countries seem to be positively responding to the West’s overtures on account of the possible adverse impact of Russia-China ‘no-limit’ friendship on their region leading to a decline in their diplomatic space while dealing with the two major powers in the region. Hence, Central Asian leaders will continue to balance their relations with Russia and China vis-à-vis the West. The pause by Kazakhstan to join BRICS as a member can be seen in this perspective.
Secondly, the Central Asian countries are pursuing locally-driven regional integration and regional consolidation is a priority presently with them. That said, the Central Asian countries might find themselves in a situation, either individually or collectively, to take a definitive call on expanding ties with the BRICS grouping, which is overtly seeking to re-shape and alter the international order. The fact that all Central Asian leaders attended the BRICS Summit for the first time at a Summit hosted and chaired by Russia is not lost on anyone. However, it would be prudent for the Central Asian countries to tread in a cautiously calibrated way in this regard while keeping the interests of their region prime.
Conclusion
Central Asia’s engagement with BRICS reflects a blend of strategic alignment and pragmatic cooperation, with economic, security, and resource interests driving the interactions. Central Asian nations are leveraging these relationships to support their development goals, manage regional security, and maintain a multivector balance in their foreign policy, while BRICS sees Central Asian countries as an important partner in their endeavour to create a suitable international cooperative and inclusive framework. With BRICS in an expansion mode and the West enhancing its engagement with the Central Asian Republics, a great game 2.0 is the least that the international community needs to see at present.
*Article originally published on Indian Council of World Affairs website.
Written by: Dr. Athar Zafar, a Senior Research Fellow at the Indian Council of World Affairs.
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