Central Asian states to boost ground transport interconnectivity

By Kuban Abdymen

DUSHANBE: The heads of the Central Asian states have signed five documents at the conclusion of their fifth consultative meeting at Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan.

The documents were the Joint statement on the outcomes of the 5th Consultative Meeting of the heads of Central Asian states, the agreement among Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan on common directions in youth policy, and an agreement on strengthening the interconnectivity of ground transport in Central Asia.

The other documents were the provision on the Council of National Coordinators for matters relating to the Consultative Meetings of the heads of Central Asian states and a “roadmap” in support of health and well-being in Central Asia for 2022-2025.

These documents reflect various aspects of cooperation and agreements reached during the meeting, covering topics such as youth policy, transport connectivity, and healthcare in the Central Asian region, the press service of the President of Tajikistan reports.

The summit, chaired by President Emomali Rahmon of Tajikistan, was attended by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan, President Sadyr Japarov of Kyrgyzstan, and President Serdar Berdymukhamedov of Turkmenistan.

President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan also attended as an honorary guest as well as the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General and Head of the UN Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia, Kaha Imnadze.

The initiative to hold consultative meetings of the heads of Central Asian countries belongs to the President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev. He proposed the idea of holding Consultative Meetings of the region’s leaders in 2017.

The first summit took place in March 2018 in the capital of Kazakhstan, Nur-Sultan, now Astana. The second was held in November 2019 in Tashkent, the third in August 2021 in the tourist zone of “Avaza” in Turkmenistan, and the fourth took place in Cholpon-Ata, Kyrgyzstan, in 2022.

In Cholpon-Ata, the leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan signed the Agreement on Friendship, Good Neighborliness, and Cooperation for the Development of Central Asia in the 21st century.

It was announced that President Emomali Rahmon of Tajikistan and President Serdar Berdymukhamedov of Turkmenistan would sign this document after completing the domestic procedures in their countries.

Tajikistan and Turkmenistan were expected to complete all coordination procedures for signing the Agreement by the time of the Summit in Dushanbe.

However, the official statement of the 5th Consultative Meeting in Dushanbe does not mention the positions of Tajikistan and Turkmenistan regarding the Agreement.