Will China and Russia’s Partnership in Central Asia Last? ( Source- The Diplomat / Author- Tao Wang and Rachel Yampolsky)
Image credits-Wikimedia Commons Source- The Diplomat Author- Tao Wang and Rachel Yampolsky Leaders in Beijing and Moscow have both been making a concerted effort to extend their connections with Central Asia in recent months. In July, Russia hosted the latest BRICS summit as well as a gathering of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Ufa near the border with Kazakhstan. Earlier, in May, on his fifth visit to Russia since becoming president, President Xi Jinping reached an agreement with President Vladimir Putin to coordinate China’s One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative with the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) in Central Asia. While both countries have clear economic incentives to cooperate in this region in the short term, they will need to overcome a number of hurdles to set their partnership on a path that can be sustained further into the future. In the past year, Russia and its Central Asian neighbors have faced sobering economic challenges. Russia’s G