A MEETING OF THE COUNTRIES OF CA AND THE USA IN A HYBRID “C5+1” FORMAT WAS HELD

On the 22nd of September, 2021, on the margins of the 76th session of the UN General Assembly a meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Central Asian countries and the U.S. Secretary of State was held in a hybrid “C5+1” format.

The U.S. Secretary of State and the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan reiterated the importance of the C5+1 regional diplomatic platform, noting its utility in facilitating critical conversations throughout 2021 regarding coordination on Afghanistan, COVID-19, economic connectivity, and the climate crisis.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan R.Meredov having underlined the significance of regular meetings in this format and noted that this format creates opportunities for broad discussion and to respond to possible challenges in the region and beyond in a timely manner.

The idea of creating a platform for the active interaction of the business circles of the countries of Central Asia and the United States was proposed. The importance of strengthening and expansion of the potentials of the countries of the format in the field of economy, trade, investments and transport connectivity was noted.

During the constructive talk, the heads of foreign policy agencies expressed interest in continuation of the diplomatic dialogue aimed at strengthening cooperation on combating the threats and challenges of regional security.

Ministers also spoke in favor of close consolidation of efforts directed to the easing the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.  In this context the significance of open and mutually agreed dialogue with the new Government of this country in all spheres representing mutual interest.

Besides that, within the framework of the virtual talk the parties discussed key directions of interaction of Central Asian countries and the USA in political, trade-economic and cultural-humanitarian spheres. In this context, countering climate change and ecological problems, development of transport-transit potential of the region were named among priority directions of the effective partnership.