Caravanserai
Diplomacy

US supports sovereignty, independence of Central Asian countries

By Asker Sultanov

Tajik and US troops participate in Exercise Regional Co-operation 2017, which ran July 10-23 in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. [USAF Staff Sgt. Michael Battles]

Tajik and US troops participate in Exercise Regional Co-operation 2017, which ran July 10-23 in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. [USAF Staff Sgt. Michael Battles]

BISHKEK -- The United States remains committed to upholding the sovereignty and independence of Central Asian states, a top US diplomat said January 12.

Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Alice Wells, speaking from Brussels, answered questions from Kyrgyz and Kazakhstani journalists during a telephone briefing that day.

"With the countries of Central Asia we have ... mutual strategic interests in promoting economic integration, in countering narcotics, countering terrorism, enhancing the stability of the region, and we have long believed that the future for Afghanistan is to be knit back into the region and to be a strong partner with the Central Asian countries," said Wells, according to a US State Department transcript.

The United States "respects" and "supports" the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of all Central Asian countries, she said, adding that the current administration endorses and embraces C5+1, a forum for US-Central Asian co-operation that the previous administration initiated.

The US and Central Asian countries have "mutual strategic interests in promoting economic integration, in countering narcotics, countering terrorism, [and] enhancing the stability of the region", Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Alice Wells, speaking from Brussels, told Kyrgyz and Kazakhstani reporters by phone January 12, 2018. Wells is shown in Colombo, Sri Lanka, August 30, 2017. [Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP]

The US and Central Asian countries have "mutual strategic interests in promoting economic integration, in countering narcotics, countering terrorism, [and] enhancing the stability of the region", Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Alice Wells, speaking from Brussels, told Kyrgyz and Kazakhstani reporters by phone January 12, 2018. Wells is shown in Colombo, Sri Lanka, August 30, 2017. [Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP]

"We've also received congressional support for this initiative with $15 million allocated for projects to reinforce this forum," she said.

US supports developing relations in the region

Wells spoke of Washington's ties with Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.

"We're very pleased, certainly, with Uzbekistan's renewed interest in building stronger relations in the region," she said.

"We're very pleased to see the countries of Central Asia naturally come together, given the range of interests that unite them, whether it's energy co-operation, trade or security ... and we look forward to seeing how events develop and further co-operation with Central Asia," she said.

The United States supports freedom of the press in Central Asia, she said.

"Historically the Kyrgyz Republic has long been a leader in press freedoms in Central Asia ... So we continue to encourage this essential institution, media, both to bring transparency as well as to assist governments as they formulate policies," she said.

The upcoming visit of Kazakhstani President Nursultan Nazarbayev to the US was a major topic of the briefing. Kazakhstan plays a key role in the national security of the Central Asian region, she said.

"Kazakhstan has achieved a global leadership role," she said, pointing to the country's support for nuclear non-proliferation, regional security and Afghanistan.

"Kazakhstan's foreign policy and its significance on the world stage is multi-dimensional, with economics just being one but not the only foundation," she said.

Wells also mentioned America's business interests in Central Asia.

"American businesses have been among the world's biggest investors in Central Asia," she said, adding that over the past 26 years, in Kyrgyzstan alone, the US government has invested about $2 billion.

"We continue to encourage improvements in the business environment so that more foreign direct investment can be attracted," she said of oil-rich Kazakhstan, where US firms have invested more than $25 billion.

Respecting sovereignty

The US government's support of independence and freedom of the press in Central Asia stands in contrast to Russia, which violates other nations' sovereignty by intimidating its neighbours and interfering in their domestic affairs.

Russia is "determined to make economies less free and less fair ... and to control information and data to repress their societies and expand their influence", according to the US government's National Security Strategy released last month.

In neighbouring countries, Moscow is actively "using information tools in an attempt to undermine the legitimacy of democracies [by targeting] media, political processes, financial networks and personal data", the report said.

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Your support is quite weak. At this pace, [the Kremlin] can use the Crimean playbook one more time.

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How do they support them, what do they do? Once upon a time those who have a TV and a pair of eyes saw what the real support looked like: when Uzbek President Islam Abduganievich Karimov SUPPORTED the crowned boozer and giant who had nearly collapsed during the photo op while attending an international event. [the author apparently refers to the incident in Tashkent in 1998 when Russian president Boris Yeltsin stumbled and all but hit the ground during the ceremony at the airport after his arrival. President Karimov standing next to Yeltsin had managed to help him remain steady. Rumor has it that Yeltsin was drunk. He claimed he had a fever that day]

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Excellent. That's serious preparation for the breakup of FagRussia. Inshallah Go Kazakhstan [written in Kazakh]

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Russia is a guarantor of stability in Central Asia. The USA is total shit, a country without any principles and morals. Go Russia, crack down on Yankees, death to roaches

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Murat, the USA is the first country that recognized Kazakhstan's independence, and it is a guarantor of peace. Learn your history.

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