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The End of Bipolarity 11 close to West Asia. After 11 embedded in a history of trust Make a list of September 2001, the US wanted and common interests and are the similarities military bases in the region matched by popular perceptions. and paid the governments of all Indian heroes from Raj Kapoor to between India and the Central Asian states to hire bases Amitabh Bachchan are household USSR in their and to allow airplanes to fly over names in Russia and many post- their territory during the wars in Soviet countries. One can hear political and economic Afghanistan and Iraq. However, Hindi film songs all over the ideologies. Russia perceives these states as region, and India is part of the its ‘Near Abroad’ and believes that popular memory. they should be under Russian RussiaandIndiashareavision influence. China has interests of a multipolar world order. What here because of the oil resources, and the Chinese have begun to they mean by a multipolar world settle around the borders and BOLLYWOOD STIRS UZBEK conduct trade. PASSIONS I n e a s t e r nE u r o p e , Czechoslovakia split peacefully into two, with the Czechs and Seven years after the Soviet Union collapsed, the Uzbek passion for Indian films continues. Within months of the the Slovaks forming independent release of the latest film in India, pirate copies were already countries. But the most severe on sale in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent. conflict took place in the Balkan Mohammed Sharif Pat runs a shop selling Indian films near republics of Yugoslavia. After one of Tashkent’s biggest markets. He is an Afghan who 1991, it broke apart with several brings videos from the Pakistani frontier town Peshawar. provinces like Croatia, Slovenia “There are many people who love Indian films here. I’d say and Bosnia and Herzegovina at least 70% of the people in Tashkent buy them. We sell declaring independence. Ethnic about 100 videos a day. I’ve just had to put in an order for Serbs opposed this, and a a thousand more,” he says. “The Uzbeks are Central Asians, massacre of non-Serb Bosnians they are part of Asia. They have a common culture. That’s why they like Indian films.” followed. The NATO intervention and the bombing of Yugoslavia Despite the shared history, for many Indians living in followed the inter-ethnic civil war. Uzbekistan,thepassiontheUzbekshavefortheirfilmsandfilm stars has come as a bit of a surprise. “Wherever we go and meet local dignitaries - even ministers or cabinet ministers - India and Post - communist during our conversation it is always mentioned,” says Ashok Shamer from the Indian embassy in Tashkent. “This shows C ountries that Indian films, culture, songs and especially Raj Kapoor have been household names here. Most of them can sing India has maintained good relations with all the post- some Hindi songs, they may not know the meaning but their pronunciation is correct and they know the music,” he says. communist countries. But the “Ihavefoundoutthatalmostallmyneighbourscansingand strongest relations are still those play Hindi songs. This was really a big surprise to me when I between Russia and India. India’s came to Uzbekistan.” relations with Russia are an AreportbytheBBC’sCentralAsiaCorrespondentLouiseHidalgo important aspect of India’s foreign policy. Indo-Russian relations are Reprint 2026-27