The US constraint strategy against China and Russia has failed to gain traction beyond the realm of rhetoric. This has urged the US to apply a bifurcation of the world community —‘You’re moreover with us, or against us.’US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has been nudging‘ swing states’like Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and India, as Russia’s standoff with the West over Ukraine continues. The US has assessed warrants against select African and Latin American countries that maintain close ties with China.
Commonly, Kazakhstan, squeezed between China and Russia, has come a testing ground. The recent developments in Kazakhstan bear an uncanny resemblance to the colour revolution in Ukraine in 2014. Militant chauvinists andpro-western groups joined hands to delegitimise the Kazakh government. As in Ukraine, protesters resorted to violent styles to undermine security agencies and paralyse the government while agents fomenters queered the pitch for expropriation of state power Russia, which is traditionally the provider of security in Central Asia, took a low-crucial approach originally and abstain from pointing cutlet at any foreign hindrance. But Kazakh president Tokayev contended that external forces were instigating the protesters. Two of Russia’s close abettors, Belarus and Serbia, also repeated this allegation. Their Chairpersons spoke of a governance- change docket. On Friday, the Iranian foreign ministry reflected that‘some foreign parties were trying to take advantage of the situation’and stirring up uneasiness in Kazakhstan.
Tokayev said in a civil address‘ Mobsters and terrorists veritably well trained, organised and commanded by the special centre. Some of them were speakingnon-Kazakh languages … The analysis of the situation showed that Kazakhstan is facing an fortified act of aggression well set and coordinated by perpetrators and terrorist groups trained outside the country As violence protruded and Tokayev sought help from the Collaborative Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), the Kremlin sprang into action through the night of December 5. This is the first time that the CSTO is seeing‘ action’since its commencement in 1992. The CSTO deployment is a de facto Russian operation and it took Washington by surprise. Blinken called his Kazakh counterpart within hours of the Russian deployment and supported for‘a peaceful, rights- esteeming resolution to the extremity,’and raised the precedence of‘ promoting stability in Europe, including support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in response to Russian aggression.’
Washington understands that Moscow has created new data on the ground that would convert any farther western attempt to install apro-West government in Kazakhstan and encircle Russia. This becomes a defining moment inpost-Soviet history, considering that Russia and Kazakhstan alone regard for 80 per cent of the home of the former Soviet Union Western centrals have grasped that a new geopolitical reality is appearing in the strategic Kazakh mainland that straddles Russia’s-km border in the south and China’s-km border of Xinjiang. (Baikonur Cosmodrome and Sary Shagan, the testing range for Russia’s ICBM dumdums, are located in Kazakhstan.) Moscow has come‘a patron, whose conduct might determine how the situation will unfold,’as the top Kremlin pundit, Fyodor Lukyanov, wrote Kazakhstan won’t be a drag on Russia. Piecemeal from being a resource-rich hustler, Kazakhstan stands out in the Human Development Index. Adult knowledge rate in Kazakhstan stands at99.8. Asian Development Bank estimates that only2.7 per cent of Kazakhstan’s population (17 million) lives below poverty. With a GNI per capita of$, Kazakhstan isn’t a‘ poor’ country. Poverty is largely related to employment openings, which have been generous in the canvas business. Kazakhstan has achieved numerous of its Millennium Development Goals.
The Russian presence in Kazakhstan can be seen as a game changer in the geopolitics of Central Asia. The great game isn’t going to end then, but just when the Biden administration began sounding bugles on Russia’s western front, Moscow is gaining strategic depth away. No doubt, the CSTO intervention in Kazakhstan signifies a reversal for the US’Indo-Pacific game plan to destabilise Xinjiang Beijing lost no time to gesture its satisfaction over the turn of events in Kazakhstan. The Chinese foreign ministry said on Friday,‘China and Kazakhstan are friendly neighbours and true strategic mates. The sides have always been maintaining good connections on issues of border control and cooperation … The border between China and Kazakhstan has come a ground of fellowship and a link of cooperation … The Chinese side is ready to continue close cooperation to maintain tranquility in border regions, to promote the development of regions in border areas.’
It’s conceivable that Beijing and Moscow have been in discussion regarding the nascent signs of an bouleversement in Kazakhstan and its implicit consequences for indigenous security. What needs to be regard in is that the CSTO is also moving toward putting the establishment of dialogue and cooperation with China on the alliance’s docket, anchored on the Sino-Russian strategic cooperation This follows President Xi Jinping’s statement during his addresses with President Vladimir Putin on December 15, emphasizing Beijing’s intention‘to renew flexible and multifaceted cooperation with Russia and other CSTO countries in order to maintain security and stability in the region.’
Looking ahead, Moscow and Beijing are poised to coordinate an overarching frame of collaborative security for the Central Asian and Eurasian regions. This will effectively block NATO from expanding eastward. Putin’s forthcoming visit to Beijing assumes great significance.
