Why India cannot afford to be a bystander in Eurasia’s new security order |
Eurasia is once again emerging as a central arena of international geopolitics. The ongoing conflicts, intensifying great power competition, expansion of regional institutions, and competing visions of multipolarity, connectivity, trade, and energy routes have sharpened the debate about the continent’s security. Eurasia is no longer merely a geographical bridge between Europe and Asia; it is a space in which competing visions on the future order are being negotiated.
The 4th Minsk International Conference on Eurasian Security was held in this very backdrop earlier this month, bringing together hundreds of experts from more than 50 countries. “Navigating International Disorder in the Spirit of Cooperation: Can We Solve the Eurasian Security Puzzle?” captured a growing concern that existing security arrangements are struggling to address contemporary challenges in Eurasia.
For India, participation in this conversation is strategically significant. Its geographical position, historical relationships, economic interests, and membership in regional institutions make it an important stakeholder in Eurasia’s future. The Minsk discussions also offered an opportunity to consider how India’s strategic autonomy can inform a broader approach to continental security, one that encompasses not only diplomacy and defense, but also economic resilience, technology, institutions, and connectivity.
Thinking Comprehensive Security
A notable feature of the Minsk discussions was the inclusion of information security, economic integration, financial cooperation, and technological innovations into a broader conception of security, alongside conventional military threats, strategic stability, and territorial disputes. This reflects a wider shift in security thinking: vulnerabilities in supply chains, critical technologies, and financial networks can have consequences comparable to those of traditional military threats.
This perspective aligns with India’s expanding interests in Eurasia. Its priorities extend beyond defense cooperation with Russia and diplomatic engagement with Central Asian republics to include energy security, critical minerals, transport links, trade diversification, and technological partnerships. Economic interdependence can encourage cooperation, but it can also create vulnerabilities when trade, finance, or supply chains become instruments of geopolitical pressure.
For India, diversifying external sources of energy, minerals, and technology is both an economic........