Central Asia’s geographical location and the peculiarities of the countries’ socio-political and economic development as well as the perceptions of India's elites of the necessity to balance Pakistan’s political influence and China's economic policy have placed the region among the most important directions of foreign policy. However, the deficiency of political and economic incentives forces the use of other tools designed to legitimize the country’s interests in the region. One of them is the discursive power with the core narrative about strong historic ties between India and Central Asia supported by political elites and representatives of the expert community. The shared history not only substantiates the continuity of India's development, but also predetermines the need for India's return to the region, which is acknowledged as a space of the «New Great Game». This narrative has found a continuation in the realm of symbolic politics. In contrast to the socio-political discourse, symbolic practices refer to historically close events, emphasizing the common heritage of Indo-Islamic culture and the Soviet past. These practices are underpinned by active 'monumental' and 'toponymic' policies and some aspects of humanitarian cooperation. One of the aims of the country’s humanitarian policy is preserving of social memory formed on the basis of the legacy of the Soviet period. During BJP administration after 2014 the degree of instrumentalization of educational, cultural and tourism policy as well as civilizational narrative has increased. However, the reliance on soft-power instruments not supported by active economic cooperation, still limits India's capabilities in the region.