Central Asia is a buffer between two nuclear powers—the Russian Federation and China. Major geopolitical massifs—the Eurasian, Islamic, Chinese, and Indian— intersect here. Central Asia is also the geographical center of Asia where four world civilizations—Islam, Buddhism, Christianity and Hinduism—meet. India being the proximate player has some immediate geopolitical and geostrategic interests. The goodwill gesture from Central Asia was well received and reciprocated by India through certain favorable policy initiatives in the early 1990s. However, the economic slowdown in India and global power competition in Central Asia have discouraged India from playing a major role in the region for a larger part of the 1990s. However, the 21st century has brought a new aroma in India-Central Asia relationship. Yet, bilateral and multilateral engagements between both the proximate neighbors are far from satisfactory. India requires strategic clarity and importantly out-of-the-box thinking to forge and foster economic integration and political cooperation with the North-Central Asia.

India is a power on the rise; a symbol of global shift from Europe to Asia, from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean, from the North to the South. After China, India is Asia’s second-largest power and will soon be the largest demographic power on the planet; it is part of BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China), which comprises the “emerging” powers of the world; its economic dynamism is impressive. Emerging India is poised to be ‘Brand India’ in the coming years as explained by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Nevertheless, New Delhi cannot leapfrog to the global high table without taking into confidence its neighbors and particularly the regions where its national interests are at stake.

At a time when India is speedily coming out of its foreign policy slumber under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Modi, it is important for several reasons to push New Delhi’s policy towards Central Asia. It is high time India revived its long overdue Look North Policy to remain engaged with the heartland region, which Brzezinski calls the Grand Chess board. Among several reasons why India must stake its claims in Central Asia and rejuvenate its policy initiative towards the region, the foremost is to gain substantial footprint on the hydrocarbon map of the region; to check the rise of radical Islamic agenda of Pakistan to hinder India’s security interests; to keep a watch on drug trafficking and potential weapon proliferation seriously afflicting India’s security interests; and to promote India’s interests in the commercial arena. Besides, Central Asian countries can provide active and full support for India’s emerging regional/global power status; India’s claim for permanent membership of the UN Security Council; countering Pakistan’s anti-India rhetoric and importantly, provide India with a grand stage alongside the US, Russia and China to play a greater role in Asia’s regional dynamics. India, as of now, cannot leapfrog to the global high table without demonstrating effective initiative at the regional level—Central Asia being an important regional constituent. This paper in this direction is a modest attempt to emphasize India’s Look North Policy— an obvious corollary to India’s “Look-East Policy” initiative taken years back to connect India with the energy-rich nations of Central Asia. An effort has also been made to know how Look North Policy is crucial for India in mapping its global strategic vision. Why India should breathe life into this policy and maneuver it has been discussed in detail in this paper.

International Relations Journal, India’s Look, North Policy, civilizations—Islam, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Central Asia Matters.