NUR-SULTAN – Central Asian and Chinese foreign ministers gathered on June 8 in Nur-Sultan for their third meeting in Central Asia – China format reaffirming their ongoing commitment to protecting regional peace and stability, reports the Kazakh Foreign Ministry.
The foreign ministers. Photo credit: Kazakh Foreign Ministry
Kazakhstan chaired the meeting and handed over the right to lead the next fourth forum to China.
The meeting was attended by Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Mukhtar Tileuberdi, Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic Jeenbek Kulubaev, Tajikistan Minister of Transport Azim Ibrohim, Deputy Chair of Turkmenistan’s Cabinet of Ministers – Minister of Foreign Affairs Rashid Meredov, and Acting Foreign Minister of Uzbekistan Vladimir Norov.
During the meeting, the ministers sought ways to implement the initiatives announced by the heads of Central Asian states and China at the January summit that marked the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.
The ministers stressed expansion of multidimensional cooperation between Central Asia and China is an important factor in sustainable socio-economic development, preservation of peace, stability, and security in the region.
The road map adopted at the meeting is an important step in fostering cooperation, as it covers strategic areas such as security, transport, and logistics, energy and industry, climate change, green economy, IT industry, health, education, culture, and tourism.
In their joint statement adopted at the end of the meeting, the ministers outlined the main objectives for the medium term.
“This demonstrates that the current format proposed by the Chinese side in 2020 has proven to be an effective mechanism for the development of inter-regional cooperation, capable of finding mutually acceptable approaches to solving urgent regional and international issues,” said the Kazakh Foreign Ministry.
