New Kazakh President in Tashkent to further regional ties

On his first ever official visit to Tashkent, soon after taking over as President of Central Asia’s largest state, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan was received at the Islam Karimov Tashkent International Airport by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan Abdulla Aripov. After the welcome reception, the delegation of Kazakhstan left for the residence allocated for them.

In the course of the forthcoming negotiations in contracted and extended formats, the parties are expected to discuss prospects for further strengthening bilateral friendship, good-neighborliness and strategic partnership, as well as consider priority areas of cooperation in political, trade-economic, investment, transport-communications, cultural-humanitarian and other areas.

The Presidents will exchange views on enhancement of regional cooperation and key international issues. The two sides will also be issuing a joint statement, and are expected to sign a slew of bilateral documents, aimed at developing multifaceted relations between the two countries.

The Presidents will also attend the official opening ceremony of the Year of Kazakhstan in Uzbekistan, which will become the logical continuation of the successfully completed Year of Uzbekistan in the fraternal neighboring country.

Both Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan have officially stated that one of their main foreign policy objectives over the coming years will be to further strengthen and consolidate regional cooperation. In light of this it is significant that President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, soon after taking over as President of Central Asia’s largest state, should make Tashkent as one of the first capitals, after Moscow, to pay an official visit to.

As Uzbek Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov, on his very recent visit to Astana, Kazakhstan, outlined, “For a long time, Uzbeks and Kazakhs have been living in peace and harmony, providing support to each other. Time-tested fraternal relations and a high level of strategic partnership are enriched with new content. Over the past two years, we have managed to achieve significant results in the development of Uzbek-Kazakh relations in various fields and directions.”

To give boost to bilateral relations between the region’s two territorially largest and most powerful states, a series of initiatives have been taken. A landmark one was the initiative of President Mirziyoyev – to organise regular consultative meetings of the heads of states of Central Asian Republics (CARS). This initiative received complete support from Kazakh President Nur Sultan Nazarbayev, to the extent that the first such meeting was held in Astana on March 15, 2018.  It is set to be an annual regional event now.

The First Uzbekistan-Kazakhstan Interregional Cooperation Forum held in November 2018 in Shymkent, Kazakhstan, similarly marked a significant milestone in bilateral relations. Kazakhstan is Uzbekistan’s largest trading partner, and in 2018 bilateral trade increased by 47 percent and reached $3.022 billion. People to people and cultural relations have also played an extremely important role in deepening bilateral ties. While last year celebrated Adthe year of Uzbekistan in Kazakhstan, President Tokayev is in Tashkent currently to inaugurate the Year of Kazakhstan in Uzbekistan.

Uzbekistan firmly supported Kazakhstan’s election to the UN Security Council as a non-permanent member, something that was pivotal for the convening of the ministerial debate last year on Building REgional Partnerships in Afghanistan and Central Asia as  a Model for the Security-Development Nexus.

Kazakh-Uzbek partnership is imperative for regional peace and security of all the Central Asian countries. Central Asia is today standing at a pivotal stage in its history. Both Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are powerful and territorially large, and resource rich moderate and modern Muslim states. Both are eager to embrace the world and claim their historically rightful place in the international community. Both have struggled to counter and eliminate disruptive forces on their territories and have succeeded in maintaining peace, harmony, diversity, and respect for women’s rights within their borders. They serve both as a stabilizing factor and as a role model for other countries in the region, not least of all for Afghanistan. The strategic location that these two states enjoy make them a conduit for Eurasia and South Asia. The visit of President Tokayev to Tashkent, therefore, is an extremely promising one, whose significance for the region and beyond cannot be overemphasised.

Aditi Bhaduri

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