EDUCATIONAL LINKAGES: ADVANCING SOFT POWER COOPERATION BETWEEN CENTRAL ASIA AND BRICS

This article discusses the role of cultural diplomacy and educational collaboration as means of cooperation based on soft power within the framework of interaction between Central Asia and BRICS countries, with an emphasis on Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. It is suggested that education, language policy, academic mobility, and exchange programs have become a key tool for exercising regional influence in today's multipolar world order. The study demonstrates that China, Russia, and India utilize their distinctive soft power tactics by creating Confucius Institutes and pursuing knowledge diplomacy in the context of the Belt and Road initiative, opening university branches and maintaining language connections and scholarship exchanges, and organizing ITEC training and ICCR scholarships, cultural centres, yoga diplomacy, and medical collaboration, respectively. Additionally, it is emphasized that Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan apply multi-vector foreign policies to diversify educational cooperation and enhance regional autonomy and sustainable development.