 The end of the Soviet Union created a new political reality on the vast expanse of Eurasia. Five new Central Asian republics emerged, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan have large quantities of proven gas and oil reserves and Turkmenistan is also known for its vast quantities in gas reserves. Hydroelectric power can be attained from the enormous surplus hydro resources of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Great potential lies for India to fulfill its energy requirements and in turn provide markets to these nations. Central Asian states are a tolerant society, multi-ethnic with several nationalities, high family values, 90-100% literacy rate, largely agricultural economies and are progressively developing their industry. India and Central Asia complement each other in terms of manpower and markets. The region has a huge consumer market hungry for a range of goods and services, for which India has the potential to provide it already being accepted as a reliable partner. The flow of business has started and opportunities are being explored. ITPO regularly organizes exhibitions in these countries. We need to urgently work in this field to promote Indian products, fortunately, well-known in the local market. As ITEC partner, students from these countries have been attending various training courses in India under slots allotted by a government of India and Uzbek Indian IT Centre was also established in 2006. Several hundred Indian students are also pursuing education and medicine in Central Asian universities. We expect to have 750 students from this year. Defence in military understanding is pivotal for peace and stability of the region. Defence officers from this region regularly take part in training and familiarization courses in India. I completed my training in India in Pune for three years and after that I joined Indian Military Academy in Deradon. Interactions in UN and other fora have been closed and mutually supportive. The Central Asian states have been backing India's candidacy for the UNSC Permanent Membership resolutely. Tourism is one of the aspects of our economic relations and an instrument to increase people-to-people contact. There is great potential for India to build, develop and manage hotels and resorts in these countries. Cultural ties constitute an important pillar of our bilateral relations.