AS THE JAPANESE Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi sets off on a four-day visit to Central Asia on Monday, August 28, 2006, much is anticipated regarding the growing influence of Asia over the rest of the continents. The popular Silk Route that led to the development of ancient civilizations such as Chinese, Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Persian and Roman has again emerged as a means of strengthening the ties in the East and this time it is Japan joining the crew.

 

Silk Road or the Silk Route, the geographical term coined by Ferdinand von Richtofen in 1877, is essentially an 8000km land stretch that connects various Central Asian and Eastern Countries. With exuberant energy resources and strategic location the region (Central Asia) has long been drawing the interests of powerful economies. Central Asia has been the bone of contention to many states in the past and served more as a battleground for others. Their vast resources of oil, and now uranium, has invited nations like Russia, Turkey, Iran, China, Pakistan, India and the US on common tables. China and Russia continue to be the dominant partners in the region and much of their dominance has been attributed to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).

 

SCO is an inter governmental alliance of the former Shanghai five which included People’s Republic of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan, Tajikistan and the sixth new member Uzbekistan. The key areas looked after by the organisation include the Joint Energy Project, Oil and Gas Sector and the smooth functioning of the SCO Interbank.

 

Japan showed its interest for the first time in Central Asia in 2004. On August 28, 2004, foreign ministers of Japan and Central Asia met in Astana and started the dialogue process ‘Central Asia plus Japan.’ The participants discussed the importance of intra regional cooperation, development in Central Asia as a whole and cooperation in international arena. The four-day visit that started on Monday will be the first of its kind by a Japanese Prime Minister. According to the Japanese ambassador to Kazakhstan Tet Suolto “Kazakhstan and Japan will jointly develop various resources, such as uranium”. Koizumi will first meet President Nazarbaev while in Kazakhstan and then proceed to Uzbekistan to meet President Karimov. The visit is expected to initiate the process of regional cooperation between these nations and will also increase the influence of Asia in the world economy.

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