Pakistani President Nawaz Sharif met with Uzbek President Islam Karimov and signed a series of documents aimed at closer cooperation with Uzbekistan. The two leaders signed multiple memorandums of understanding, and finance ministers signed a protocol to increase bilateral cooperation and prevent double taxation. Sharif met last weekend with Tajik President Emomali Rahmon to reach…
A Russian congressman proposed closing borders to migrants from Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, in the wake of the attacks in Paris and last week’s arrest of over 150 suspected militants in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Vice Speaker of the lower house of the Russian legislature, son of founder Vladimir Zhironovsky and chairman of what many observers have…
Water in Central Asia is becoming not just a vital natural resource but a political tool as well. Water security is becoming an increasingly important issue as winter approaches in Central Asia due to both environment and political reasons. Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan serve as major sources of water for downstream countries. While lacking the hydrocarbon resources, they are mountainous…
Despite the deal between Iran and the P5+1 powers lifting sanctions in exchange for compliance with the dismantling of the Iranian nuclear program signed over the summer, it appears that Iran’s government is not as eager to rejoin the world economy as most originally believed. For those hoping that the deal would cause a flood…
Ukraine’s state owned gas company, Naftogaz warned that Ukraine might stop buying gas from Russia from the beginning of 2016. Natural gas supplies from Russia are only secured until the end of this year and Ukrainian authorities stated that they would rely on European supply in 2016 unless Russia offered a competitive price. They also…
Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj paid her second visit to Turkmenistan in the past six months, shortly after Prime Minister Modi visited Ashgabat last July. The TAPI gas pipeline and Ashgabat Agreement on trade and transit are the main issues on the table for discussion, respectively concerning India’s energy security and regional connectivity. The…
US Secretary John Kerry arrived in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan on October 31 to begin his tour of all five countries of Central Asia. He met with Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambaev, Uzbek President Islam Karimov and all five Central Asian foreign ministers in Samarkand, Uzbekistan on November 1, and Kazakhstani President Nursultan Nazarbayev in Astana, Kazakhstan on…
For the first time since 2006, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe launched a six-day tour in Central Asia with the goal of boosting energy cooperation in the region. Tokyo is believed to be on the edge of the implementation of a new policy for increasing its presence in Central Asia, ostensibly aimed to counter China’s…
Kazakhstani President Nursultan Nazarbayev stated that the country is facing a crisis worse than that of 2007-2008, as he charged the government with drawing up an anti-crisis plan on October 19. Nazarbayev forecast that the country’s economic situation would not face an upturn soon, citing decreasing prices for natural gas and other resources exported from…
Iran’s top nuclear negotiator expressed hopes that an agreement will be reached on Iran’s rollback of its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief before the end of the year. Negotiator Abbas Araqchi’s comments came a day after US President Obama approved sanctions waivers on October 18, the symbolic implementation day for the nuclear deal…
