The chessboard of central Asia

The five Central Asian countries, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, gained independence in the early 1990s, after the fall of the Soviet Union. The region is richly endowed with natural resources like crude oil, natural gas, cotton, gold, copper, aluminium, iron, uranium, hydropower potential, etc, which have grabbed the attention of international powers. Central Asia is also a strong market for millions of customers. India takes a keen interest in the region; its major concerns with the republics include energy, security, trade investment, infrastructure development, the fight against Islamic fundamentalism, and so on. This paper shows how Central Asia is a geopolitical chessboard and which powers are playing a major role on the chessboard.