Uzbekistan International Affairs - The Times Of Central Asia

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Diplomacy

Tashkent and Kabul Rush to Deny Taliban Minister’s Criticism of Uzbekistan

A diplomatic row erupted between Uzbekistan and Afghanistan this week after a senior Taliban official was reported to have said that Islam in Uzbekistan exists only in name. After the remarks were widely covered by Uzbek and Afghan media, officials on both sides rejected the reports, although questions remain over whether excerpts of the speech were published and later deleted by the Taliban ministry itself. The dispute is sensitive because Uzbekistan has built close working relations with the Taliban administration on trade, transport, energy, and border security, while remaining wary of religious extremism and stopping short of formally recognizing its government. Public criticism of Uzbekistan’s religious policies by a senior Taliban figure could therefore strain a relationship both sides have worked carefully to preserve. The controversy centers on Sheikh Mohammad Khalid Hanafi, the Taliban’s acting minister for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. Afghanistan International reported that Hanafi referred to Samarkand, Bukhara, and Termez, Uzbek cities associated with prominent Islamic scholars including Imam al-Bukhari and Imam al-Tirmidhi. He was quoted as saying that Islam in the cities remained “only on people’s lips,” and blaming religious scholars for leaving the enforcement of Islamic rules to the government. Some regional media paraphrased the remark as a claim that “only the name of Islam remains” in Uzbekistan. The comments were reportedly made during a speech in Afghanistan’s Paktia Province. Afghanistan International said Hanafi’s ministry published several excerpts from the address. Reports cited by Uzbek media said the passage concerning Uzbekistan also appeared on a ministry spokesman’s account on X before being removed. The reports attracted widespread attention in Uzbekistan, prompting the country’s embassy in Kabul to seek an explanation. On July 16, the embassy said it had received a letter from the Taliban’s Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice rejecting what it described as distorted reporting intended to damage relations between the neighboring countries. The letter praised Uzbekistan as the homeland of major Islamic scholars, including Imam al-Bukhari, and stressed the countries’ shared religious, historical, and cultural ties. It said statements presented as criticism of Uzbekistan “do not correspond to the truth” and described the reports as a distortion of the facts. However, the letter did not explicitly state that Hanafi had never made the remarks or explain why the passage was reportedly removed. Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a stronger denial. Speaking to Portal24.uz, ministry spokesperson Omonulla Fayziyev described the claims as “completely unfounded” and “disinformation.” Fayziyev said no such statement had been officially issued or published by Afghan state media. He added that Uzbekistan’s ambassador had discussed the controversy directly with the Taliban authorities. That explanation leaves the central question unresolved. The Uzbek and Taliban statements reject the reporting, yet neither directly addresses Afghanistan International’s account that the ministry itself released excerpts from Hanafi’s speech. Uzbekistan has emerged as one of the Central Asian countries most actively engaged with the Taliban since its return to power in 2021. The two sides are expanding trade...

Central Asia + Japan

Patient Capital, Fast Deals: Japan and South Korea Take Different Paths into Central Asia

Japan and South Korea have reached the same strategic conclusion: Central Asia matters to their economic security. Yet they are pursuing that goal through markedly different playbooks. In December 2025, Tokyo hosted the first leaders' summit of the "Central Asia plus Japan" Dialogue, 21 years after the format was launched. All five Central Asian presidents attended. Japan set a target of three trillion yen in business projects across the region over five years - roughly $19 billion at the time - while placing critical-mineral supply chains among the summit's priority areas. The bilateral announcements were equally significant. Uzbekistan presented a proposed project portfolio worth more than $12 billion and called for a joint investment platform to advance it. Kazakhstan and Japan announced a package of public- and private-sector agreements worth $3.7 billion. These included a long-term uranium contract and an offtake agreement under which Kazakhstan's Eurasian Resources Group would supply gallium to Mitsubishi Corporation RTM Japan. The timing was no accident. By May 2026, Chinese shipments to Japan of dysprosium and terbium remained close to zero, while exports of finished rare earth magnets to Japan fell 35% from the previous month. These materials are essential to high-performance magnets. For Tokyo, diversifying critical mineral supply is no longer a distant policy objective; it is an immediate industrial requirement. South Korea has been moving toward the same destination by a different route. During then-President Yoon Suk Yeol's state visit to Kazakhstan in 2024, the two countries signed a critical minerals memorandum allowing Korean companies to participate in the exploration and development of lithium, chromium, uranium, and rare earths. Seoul is now preparing to host the first Korea-Central Asia summit on September 16-17, 2026, elevating years of bilateral and multilateral engagement to the leaders' level. [caption id="attachment_52351" align="aligncenter" width="1280"] Image: Japan Cabinet Public Affairs Office[/caption] Why Central Asia Counts Both Japan and South Korea are resource-poor manufacturing powers whose leading industries depend on secure supplies of imported minerals. South Korea imports more than 95% of the critical minerals it consumes. Japan received its own warning in 2010, when Chinese rare earth shipments were disrupted during a territorial dispute, and the pressure has returned in a sharper form in 2026. Central Asia cannot replace China in the short term, but it offers Tokyo and Seoul a credible route toward diversification. Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan combine substantial mineral potential with governments eager to attract investment, technology, and new export markets. Kazakhstan is already a major producer of uranium and chromium, and has significant copper, titanium, and rare earth prospects. In April 2025, Kazakhstan announced the possible discovery of a rare earth deposit containing more than 20 million metric tons of resources. If further exploration confirms that estimate, the country could possess one of the world's largest rare earth resource bases. However, the distinction between a resource estimate and a usable supply chain is crucial. A discovery is not a producing mine, and a mine is not a processing industry. Exploration, environmental approvals, infrastructure, separation, refining, and...

Labor Migration

Belarus Plans to Recruit 5,000 More Workers From Uzbekistan as Labor Partnership Expands

Belarus plans to recruit another 5,000 workers from Uzbekistan’s Andijan Region, significantly expanding a labor migration program that has become one of the most visible outcomes of the growing partnership between the two countries. The announcement was made by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko during a working visit to the Orsha district of the Vitebsk Region on July 14. Speaking alongside Andijan regional governor Shukhrat Abdurakhmanov, Lukashenko said the additional workers would begin arriving in groups of 500 from September 2026. The new recruitment drive follows agreements reached during Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s official visit to Belarus earlier this month, when the two countries elevated their relationship to a strategic partnership and pledged to deepen cooperation across multiple sectors, including labor migration. During his visit to Vitebsk, Lukashenko described the project as beneficial for both sides. “I promised the President that we would do this. It is beneficial for us,” he said. “This will help develop the Vitebsk Region.” He also sought to reassure future workers that they would receive the same treatment as local residents. “When they come here, they must know that they are not strangers to us,” Lukashenko said. “Everything we build will be for people for Uzbeks and Belarusians alike. There will be no difference. Your children will attend kindergartens and schools under the same conditions as Belarusian children. The only thing is that they should work.” According to Belarusian officials, Uzbek citizens will work in agriculture and construction. They will also work in industry and the service sector, while some will take junior medical roles. Authorities said the first group of 255 workers had already arrived and been assigned to workplaces across the region. The partnership extends well beyond employment. Belarus plans to provide the Uzbek side with 10 cattle-fattening facilities across seven districts together with 8,000 hectares of agricultural land. The meat produced there is expected to be exported to Uzbekistan. Another 2,000 hectares in the Beshenkovichi district will be allocated to Uzbek partners for potato cultivation, while Belarus will provide seed potatoes and technical support, including agricultural expertise. Officials are also discussing projects in wood processing, including a modern timber-processing plant backed by Uzbek investment and a facility producing pellets for export to Uzbekistan. Lukashenko said implementation should begin without delay. “We should start doing it without postponing,” he said. Plans also include establishing an Uzbek construction trust staffed by Uzbek workers to build and maintain Uzbekistan’s facilities in Belarus. An Uzbek trade house has already opened in Vitebsk, while premises have been selected for an Uzbek restaurant. Belarusian authorities also intend to transfer a former boarding school in Bahushewsk that will be converted into a recreation center for Uzbek citizens. On the Uzbek side, the Migration Agency reported that more than 250 residents of Andijan Region recently flew to Belarus on a charter flight to work temporarily in agriculture and livestock farming. The agency said the project is being implemented under a simplified procedure based on a trilateral agreement involving the Andijan regional government, the...

Afghanistan

Central Asia Builds a Regional Track for Engagement with Afghanistan

The United States and Europe may have stepped back from Afghanistan, but the country’s instability still affects migration, security, trade, and humanitarian pressures far beyond its borders. Given their proximity, Central Asian states cannot and have not disengaged, and their efforts to keep Kabul connected to regional diplomacy and commerce serve interests that are also shared by the West. On June 16, the Center for Strategic Studies of Afghanistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs convened the first Afghanistan-Central Asia Think Tank Forum in Kabul, bringing together leaders and senior representatives from strategic research institutions across the region. Held under the theme "The Strategic Role of Think Tanks in Advancing Regional Cooperation," the forum included delegations from Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Azerbaijan alongside their Afghan counterparts. [caption id="attachment_52266" align="aligncenter" width="1080"] Image: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan[/caption] In his keynote address, Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi observed that the international order stands at a delicate crossroads, divided by competing narratives and opposing camps: “Given the developments and challenges in the global structure, the current international order finds itself at a sensitive juncture in history — a period marked, on the one hand, by various illusions and contradictory narratives, and, on the other, by efforts toward cooperation and multilateralism.” In essence, Muttaqi was advocating for an international order that allows Afghanistan and its neighbors to chart their own courses while engaging constructively with willing partners. Speaking to those in his immediate region, he drew attention to shared challenges, among them climate change, water shortages, economic headwinds, and conflict spillover, and asserted that “There is no doubt that, in order to make more effective and constructive decisions and to develop indigenous narratives for our region and shared future, specialists and researchers from academic and intellectual institutions must draft practical and comprehensive roadmaps for future cooperation across various fields.” Muttaqi underscored to participants the growing recognition that regional states stand to gain more through practical cooperation than through isolation or unilateral approaches. He reaffirmed Afghanistan's commitment to advancing the research-based proposals discussed at the April Consultative Dialogue in Kabul to help inform regional political and economic decision-making. His remarks reflected a view that broad-based economic development and good-neighborly relations are mutually reinforcing foundations of societal stability within a shared civilizational context—a perspective widely shared across the Central Asian republics. That is why, for example, he highlighted the need to follow through on economic and connectivity opportunities, citing projects such as CASA-1000, Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline, Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan electricity transmission project (TAP-500), the Lapis Lazuli Route, and the Afghan-Trans railway. These initiatives are in various stages of development, some having been stalled for decades. Javlon Vakhabov, former Uzbek ambassador to the United States and currently Director of the International Institute for Central Asia (IICA) in Tashkent, travelled to Kabul for the Forum. In his address, he summed up the mood of the participants: “In this emerging Greater Central Asia, Afghanistan is not a periphery. It is the southern gateway of our region, linking Central...

Middle Corridor

Daines’s Tour Signals an Emerging U.S. Caspian Corridor Strategy

Senator Steve Daines’s July 7–9 visit to Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan brought three bilateral relationships into a single, compressed Caspian itinerary. In Baku, he met President Ilham Aliyev and senior economic and foreign-policy officials; in Astana, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and representatives of government and business; and in Ashgabat, President Serdar Berdimuhamedov, Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov, and Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov. Although official accounts treated each stop separately, the sequence suggests a regional pattern whose significance exceeds any single announcement. Daines had already supplied the clearest public articulation of the governing logic in his June 11 speech to the Caspian Policy Center’s Trans-Caspian Forum. There he joined Central Asia and the South Caucasus in a discussion about westward connectivity, investment, and supply-chain diversification. Daines identified critical minerals, energy, telecommunications, and physical and digital infrastructure as fields for public and private investment, while calling for TRIPP, a Caspian gas interconnector, and a continuous route from Central Asia to Western markets that avoids Russia and Iran. Together, these sectors give the proposed route both commercial and strategic content, though not the form of a single named program. Read against the June speech, Daines’s itinerary marks an emerging corridor-centered effort aligned with the Trump administration’s broader Caspian engagement, even without a formal declaration of purpose. Azerbaijan Anchors the Corridor’s Western Connections Baku gives the corridor logic its strongest institutional and bilateral footing. Aliyev and Daines discussed Azerbaijan’s geopolitical role, regional peace, and TRIPP’s importance for transport connectivity. Separate meetings with Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov extended the agenda to economic cooperation. With SOCAR President Rovshan Najaf, Jabbarov and Daines took up the Middle Corridor, energy, transport, digital development, and critical-mineral extraction and processing. Across the meetings, political, commercial, and technical portfolios converged around Azerbaijan’s place at the corridor’s western Caspian egress. The U.S.–Azerbaijan Strategic Partnership Charter, signed in February, places the Middle Corridor alongside energy, trade, transit, digital connectivity, and critical-mineral movement. It identifies Azerbaijan as an energy, transport, trade, and logistics hub for the Caspian region. Working groups regularize cooperation on trade, energy, connectivity, digital development, and security. The charter also calls for project lists and implementation roadmaps within three months of signing and for meetings at least once a year. In June, the first Azerbaijan-U.S. Economic Dialogue began translating that direction into an operational agenda. Government, financial institutions, and private-sector participants met on regional connectivity and transit, energy security, investment, artificial intelligence, and digital infrastructure. The agenda connected the Middle Corridor and TRIPP with logistics, the Southern Gas Corridor, critical mineral supply chains, transport and energy investment, and the Alat Free Economic Zone. Closing documents covered digital infrastructure, technology transfer, and industrial solutions. The workstreams are clear, but the consolidated project portfolio and its financing have yet to take public form. Azerbaijan’s role also rests on physical infrastructure already in use. The established Middle Corridor crosses Kazakhstan and the Caspian before passing through Azerbaijan and Georgia, then onward toward Türkiye or Europe via the Black Sea. At Alat, 70 kilometers...

Azerbaijan

Aliyev Sees Azerbaijan and Central Asia’s Interests Converging

The Shusha Global Media Forum, an annual gathering held in Azerbaijan’s Karabakh region and conceived as a platform for journalists and media representatives from dozens of countries across Europe and beyond, including the United States, acquired broader regional significance last year because of its consequences for several Russian participants. Last year’s forum attracted widespread attention in Russia after two prominent Russian participants faced repercussions at home. Mikhail Gusman, then first deputy director general of the state news agency TASS, was dismissed shortly after attending the event and praising Azerbaijan, although no official reason was given. The following month, pro-Kremlin political analyst Sergei Markov was designated a “foreign agent” after facing criticism for his favorable comments about Azerbaijan. It was therefore unsurprising that this year’s forum attracted close attention from media outlets around the world. Beyond the forum’s Russia-related significance, Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev’s remarks pointed to a broader regional shift. Azerbaijan increasingly sees its political and economic interests converging with those of Central Asia, particularly through the Middle Corridor, cross-Caspian energy links, and infrastructure cooperation. According to official figures, approximately 160 journalists, experts, and public officials from 53 countries attended the event. The forum brought together representatives of around 30 international news agencies, more than 60 leading media organizations, and roughly 10 international organizations and companies. Former TASS executive Mikhail Gusman attended the fourth Shusha Global Media Forum and highlighted its growing international profile. “There are very few, if any, media platforms in the world that bring together representatives of media organizations from every region to exchange views and engage in dialogue. That is precisely why the importance of this forum cannot be overstated,” he said. As in previous years, President Aliyev opened the forum and spent nearly three hours answering questions from journalists representing a wide range of countries. Given the latest deterioration in relations between Baku and Moscow, many observers were watching to see whether questions would prompt unusually sharp comments about Russia. The organizers did not shy away from potentially sensitive questions. Ukrainian journalist Dmytro Gordon, who has been designated an extremist in Russia, was once again invited to the forum and made full use of the opportunity. Gordon noted Ukrainian drone and missile strikes deep inside Russia before asking Aliyev what counsel he would offer Ukraine and President Vladimir Putin. “What advice would you give Putin today, when, in my view, he no longer has any good options left?” Gordon asked. Aliyev avoided an overtly confrontational response, stating that Ukraine should “never agree to occupation” and that the war “must be stopped—and stopped immediately.” Aliyev’s exchange with journalists and analysts from Europe and the United States painted a clear picture of Azerbaijan’s worldview and the role it sees for itself internationally. That perspective remains heavily shaped by the three-decade conflict between Baku and Yerevan over Karabakh. According to Aliyev, the United States, France, and Russia all sought to preserve the status quo during that period. He described those decades as a “time of war,” arguing that...