China and India in Central Asia A New "Great Game"?

China and India's growing interests in Central Asia disrupt the traditional Russian-U.S. "Great Game" at the heart of the old continent. Though for the moment India is unable to equally compete against the Chinese presence in post-Soviet Central Asia, New Delhi is well established in Afghanistan and has begun to cast its eyes more markedly toward the north to the shores of the Caspian Sea. In the years to come, both Asian powers are looking to redeploy their rivalry on the Central Asian and Afghan theaters on a geopolitical, but also political and economic level.

Marlène Laruelle is Director of the Central Asia Program, a research professor of international affairs, The Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies (IERES), The Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University, USA.

Sebastian Peyrouse is a research professor of international affairs at The Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies (IERES), The Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University, USA.

Jean-François Huchet is Director of the French Centre for Research on Contemporary China (CEFC) in Hong Kong.

Bayram Balci has been Director of the French Institute for Central Asian Studies since 2006.

1. Why Central Asia? The Strategic Rationale of Indian and Chinese Involvement in the Region; M.Laruelle, J.François Huchet, S.Peyrouse and B.Balci
PART I: NEGOTIATING PROJECTIONS OF POWER IN CENTRAL ASIA
2. Russia Facing China and India in Central Asia: Cooperation, Competition, and Hesitations; M.Laruelle
3. Central Asia-China Relations and their Relative Weight in Chinese Foreign Policy; J.P.Cabestan
4. An Elephant in a China Shop? India's "Look North" to Central Asia…Seeing Only China; E.Kavalski
5. Afghanistan and Regional Strategy: The India Factor; M.Singh Roy
6. Afghan Factor in Reviving Sino-Pak Axis; S.Singh
PART II: INDIA AND CHINA IN CENTRAL ASIA, BETWEEN COOPERATION, PARALLELISM, AND COMPETITION
7. India and China in Central Asia: Mirroring their Bilateral Relations; J.François Huchet
8. India - China Interactions in Central Asia through the Prism of Paul Kennedy's Analysis of Great Powers; B.Chaudhuri and M.Sethi 9. Cooperation or Competition? China and India in Central Asia; Z.Huasheng
PART III: CHINESE AND INDIAN ECONOMIC IMPLEMENTATIONS FROM THE CASPIAN BASIN TO AFGHANISTAN
10. Scramble for Caspian Energy: Can Big Power Competition Sidestep China and India?; P.L.Dash
11. Comparing the Economic Involvement of China and India in post-Soviet Central Asia; S.Peyrouse
12. The Reconstruction Issue in Afghanistan: The Indian and Chinese Contribution; G.Sachdeva
PART IV: REVISITED HISTORICAL BACKGROUNDS, DISPUTED RELIGIOUS MODERNITIES
13. From the Oxus to the Indus: Looking Back at India-Central Asia Connexions in the Early Modern Age; L.Gayer
14. Uyghur Islam: Caught between Foreign Influences and Domestic Constraints; R.Castets
15. The Jama'at al Tabligh in Central Asia: A Mediator in the Recreation of Islamic Relations with the Indian Subcontinent; B.Balci