Kazakhstan: An oasis of peace in Eurasia ?

The Global Peace Index 2020 recently ranked Kazakhstan as the most peaceful country in the Eurasian region. In a list of 163 countries, the Central Asian Country which was a part part of the erstwhile Soviet Union, ranked 70^th. The Eurasian region also saw an overall improvement especially in the Ongoing Conflict and the Safety and Security domains, though Kazakhstan saw a deterioration in the peace index it still tops the list in the region. The authors of the report mention that the most noteworthy change for the country took place in the Safety and Security domain and in the political terror scale which indicated factors such as widespread human rights abuses. The report found it worthwhile to mention the development towards peace in the region and Kazakhstan’s contribution to it.

Kazakhstan is the largest land locked country in the world, sharing its border with Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and is sandwiched between China and Russia. The Aral Sea and the Caspian Sea also surrounds the country. Nevertheless, considering the geopolitical unrest of the region Kazakhstan’s Foreign Policy had been a pioneer in furthering regional peace and world peace in the region. In 2017 Kazakhstan assumed membership of the UN Security Council. In the first year of its Council membership it prioritised seven goals – achieving a world free of Nuclear weapons; eliminating the threat of global war and settling local conflicts; the promotion of the interest of the Central Asia simultaneously strengthening regional security and cooperation; promoting peace and security in Africa; countering terrorism; promoting and integrating security and sustainable development; acknowledging and adopting the framework of the Security Council and the UN to solve the challenges of the 21^st century. In the month of January in 2018 Kazakhstan also became the first country to assume presidency of the council and facilitated peace process in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, conflict in the Middle-East, Central Asia and Afghanistan and de-escalation of conflict in the Korean peninsula. The Kazakh Ambassador Kairat Umarov, Permanent Representative to the UN also stressed upon meaningful participation of women, youth and religious groups in peacebuilding process. The country’s foreign policy has frequently stressed on mediation and the “art of diplomacy” as the means to promote peacebuilding. The country also reiterated that its doors are open for countries which want to hold talks on their land for building peace.

According to the World Bank, Kazakhstan has also moved up from lower-middle-income countries to upper-middle-income countries in 2006. GDP per capita has also risen. Minimum wage increase in early 2019 also boosted real wages by 8.9 percent helped sustaining labour demand and kept overall unemployment under 5 percent. The rising wage and increased social assistance also reduced the poverty rate to 8.5 percent by 2019. Investment in the region has also increased, the greatest part of which includes Foreign Direct Investment. The overall economic development has increased quality of life considerably and thus also contributed to the development of peace in the country. The NATO and Kazakhstan also cooperate on various democratic, institutional and defence reforms. Kazakhstan also conducted military exercises with India. New Delhi also agreed to build a joint peacekeeping establishment. The location of the project is located in the Kazakhstan Ministry of Defence. This shows increase trust on the relationship between India and Kazakhstan.

In conclusion, it needs to be pointed out that Kazakhstan to enhance its peace process must reform its own internal political institutions which will focus on establishing rule of law and upholding freedom of speech thus enabling human rights. Kazakhstan can be the role model for the Middle-East for peacebuilding, cooperation and regional security. This is a much-needed goal in a historically unstable region.

Manish Dutta

(former) Intern, AGA