The main focus of the 22nd Summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in Samarkand was on strengthening regional cooperation and trade connectivity in Eurasia.
The fluid geopolitical situation arising out of the Russian military intervention in Ukraine has added to the challenges of Turkmenistan’s leadership in implementing their stated neutrality-based foreign policy doctrine.
The crises in Bosnia have put the nation on red alert and could lead to a major conflict or civil war, if the issues are not resolved soon. Any political instability can fan ideas of disintegration and separation and take Bosnia back to the civil war era and ethnic conflicts, devastation and loss of life.
In order to maintain a semblance of balance in its ties with its two key strategic partners, Kazakhstan would perhaps have to leverage its geo-strategic importance for both Moscow and Beijing to navigate the new Arctic route.
While the international community has maintained a cautious stand vis-à-vis the Taliban, Tajikistan has decisively thrown its weight in support of the resistance movement against the Taliban and has made a clarion call for an inclusive government in Afghanistan.
Russia’s ‘Partial Mobilisation’ and Central Asia
Russia’s partial mobilisation has also had regional domestic repercussions, especially so in the Central Asian Republics.