ISIS in Central Asia: the Potential Impact on Security Interests of Iran and India

Since its emergence in the Levant including Syria and Iraq, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS Takfiri militant group) selected province of Khorasan (Afghanistan and some parts of Central Asia) as its territory, thus established its sovereignty and identity under the same title. The main question underlying the current study is that what would be the main contexts and substrates for the gradual presence and influence of ISIS in the region? The main hypothesis underlying the article is that: secular authoritarian political structure, the approach adopted and inappropriate actions taken by the governments in the region in response to the extremism, extremist fundamentalist groups in the region, fragile and complex social fabric of Central Asian countries and also the presence of the nationals in the countries of the region in ISIS structure are some of the most important factors that can lead to the formation of ISIS in the region. This presence is a common security threat to Iran and India, which can strengthen the need to security cooperation between the two countries. The current article uses an analytical method, and for data collection, the article has utilized reliable library-based sources.

Keywords:

ISIS , Central Asia , Extremist Fundamentalist Groups , Iran , India