On a visit to Moscow this week, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called for increased cooperation between his country and Russia in Central Asia. In a speech to the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, Singh named Central Asia as the first region in which the two giant countries should cooperate. And he focused on security:

As India revitalizes its historic links with Central Asia, we look forward to working more closely with Russia in the region. Our cooperation can play an important role in advancing peace, stability and economic development in Afghanistan. It can be equally effective in combating the shared challenges of extremism, terrorism and narco-trafficking. Coordination of our policies in this shared neighbourhood has served us both well and we should continue to pursue it more closely in the future.

This is interesting rhetoric, but it's not clear what sort of things Russia and India could do together in Central Asia. Russia has consistently supported India's membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (along with that of India's rival, Pakistan). But Russia also effectively forced India out of the Ayni air base in Tajikistan, after India had spent tens of millions of dollars renovating it in the hope that it would become their first military base in Central Asia.

It's possible that Singh's comments in Moscow were basically empty: India has a strong tradition of talking big about the geopolitical importance of Central Asia, while not actually doing much there. That has started to change, with a new "Connect Central Asia" policy, but Delhi's activities in the region are still relatively modest. India's interest has been in large part been driven by a wish to outflank Pakistan, and Indian officials may be alarmed at Pakistan's recent attempts (again, still more rhetorical than real) to get more heavily involved in Central Asia. Watch this space.