Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is visiting Uzbekistan on April 25th. Nathan over at Registan has a post summarizing some of the issues at stake.

Former Indian Ambassador to Uzbekistan MK Bhadrakumar wrote an interesting, if provocative, op-ed on the upcoming visit. He champions the diplomacy as India’s way of demonstrating that it is not the United States’ lackey, and is more than capable of pursuing its own policy.

Therefore, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Tashkent at the present juncture becomes conspicuous as an indulgence in “independent foreign policy”. It comes hardly six or seven weeks after President George W Bush made a stirring call from the ramparts of Purana Qila in Delhi that India should join hands with the US in the spirit of their strategic partnership, in lighting the torch of freedom and democracy in areas of darkness in the contemporary world, such as Central Asia. Uzbekistan would have every reason to feel gratified that New Delhi has not allowed itself to be influenced by the hostile American policy.

Naturally it is understandable for the world’s most populous democracy to demonstrate its independence from the world’s most powerful, but Bhadrakumar takes it a step further and explicitly and unapologetically presents his case in the context of Andijan.

Over the Andijan events in particular, Delhi remained an attentive interlocutor for Tashkent – appreciative, even if mutely, of the imperatives of regional stability and security.

India and Uzbekistan have closely worked together on issues of regional security. The overthrow of the Taliban regime led to a pause, but threat perceptions have resurfaced. The US has failed to stabilise the Afghan situation. The Taliban is on a comeback trail. The Andijan uprising was perpetrated by extremist elements linked to Afghanistan. Besides, Islamist elements from Uzbekistan are operating out of Pakistan’s tribal agencies.

After the obligatory riff on Pakistan, the former ambassador finishes with one last jab at the US.

India has done well to politely listen to the passionate American entreaties over the democracy project in Central Asia – and to steer clear of it.

Craig Murray, meet your inverse twin.