At a meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS), President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov proposed modernizing the Central Asian Water Strategy. He noted that Turkmenistan, together with all countries of Central Asia, is devoted to advancing “water diplomacy” in the region, and that Ashgabat, during its chairmanship in IFAS, initiated the development of this Strategy. He suggested that the document should contain the fundamental principles and rules of political and diplomatic interaction between the states on water issues, based on mutual respect, equal partnership, and taking into account the interests of all countries in the region.
The President of Turkmenistan also proposed considering the issue of modernizing the Regional Action Plan for Environmental Protection of Central Asia, adopted within the framework of the Interstate Commission on Sustainable Development of IFAS, to incorporate the main provisions of this Plan as an environmental component in the new Action Program to assist the countries of the Aral Sea basin. He suggested that the Central Asian Water Strategy could become the basis for the development of the UN Global Water Strategy.