The Fifth Consultative Meeting of Central Asian Heads of State, held on September 14 in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, was a noteworthy milestone in the region’s history. The summit marked the completion of the first stage of the regional rapprochement process, which has been proven to be sustainable, advancing, and irreversible. In a world filled with confrontations, geopolitical tensions, and conflicts, the Central Asian states have expressed their desire to further cooperation in all areas of mutual interest.
This summit is a testament to the countries’ commitment to collaborate in facing new threats and challenges, increasing trade, economic, cultural, and humanitarian connections, and enhancing the international standing of Central Asia in the global arena. The Consultative Meeting, which started in Astana, Kazakhstan in 2018, has become a steady mechanism for regional cooperation, allowing decisions to be made on key issues and discussing and formulating common stances on pressing global and regional matters.
The Central Asian nations are actively developing dialogue platforms and introducing new economic cooperation forms. Investment funds and companies are being established, industrial collaboration projects are being implemented, and cross-border industrial trading and industrial zones are being built, which are beneficial for the economies of the Central Asian countries, create precedents, and lay a strong foundation for the region’s sustainable growth and stability.
The 10 “CA Plus” formats, established in conjunction with major foreign partners, enable the region to maintain a single, coordinated, and agreed-upon position and promote regional interests together. This is a sign of the external recognition of the international legal subjectivity, autonomy, and self-sufficiency of Central Asia and its growing geo-economic importance.
The positive trend in regional cooperation is in line with the initiatives of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, who identified Central Asia as a priority of Uzbekistan’s foreign policy. This policy has resulted in strengthening good neighborliness and trust, resolving existing problems, developing regional cooperation, and active interaction in the international arena.
At the Dushanbe Summit, the Head of Uzbekistan noted that “we have achieved considerable progress in resolving vital issues and filling our cooperation with qualitatively new content, political contacts, and inter-parliamentary exchanges have become regular, and various platforms for dialogue and cooperation have been launched”.
The main accomplishment was the strengthening of stability and unity in Central Asia. The region is becoming one of the significant centers of economic growth and investment activity, regaining its historical role as a transport hub connecting West with East and North with South.
Taking into account an in-depth analysis of the impact of global processes on the sustainable development of the region, it was stated that the ability to counter these threats directly and effectively depends on the consolidation of joint efforts aimed at deepening a multifaceted partnership.
An important direction is the expansion of security cooperation. The proposal to hold regular meetings on security issues with the coordinating role of the secretaries of the Security Councils of our states was supported. The Interstate Program for the protection and strengthening of the borders of the countries of Central Asia and the formation of a Regional System of Forecasting, Prevention, Early Warning, and Joint Response to Emergency Situations was also proposed.
The speeches of all forum participants demonstrated the shared desire to give a systematic character to regional cooperation in security and to solve emerging problems in collaboration. The Regulations on the Council of National Coordinators for the Consultative Meetings of the Heads of State of Central Asia were adopted, which lays the foundation for the institutionalization of this mechanism.
The results of the summit confirmed the determination of the heads of state of the region to jointly confront common challenges and threats and promote a united Central Asia as a reliable factor of stability and security throughout the Eurasian space. The decisions of the Consultative Meeting in Dushanbe will give new impetus to further regional consolidation, deepening full-scale strategic partnerships, and implementing joint projects that ensure mutual growth and sustainable development.