Cooperation - The Times Of Central Asia

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BRICS

Contacts Between Senior Central Asian and U.S. Officials Have Intensified

India hosted the 18th BRICS summit in New Delhi on September 12–13. Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are among the partner countries of this international grouping, which began meeting in 2006 and held its first summit in 2009. Uzbekistan was represented by a delegation headed by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Jamshid Kuchkarov. Kazakhstan’s delegation was led by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. On Saturday, September 12, the Kazakh president met on the sidelines of the summit with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Sergio Gor, the U.S. president’s special envoy for South and Central Asia. During his meeting with the crown prince, they discussed economic and investment cooperation. In 2025, the United Arab Emirates ranked among Kazakhstan’s four largest foreign investors. Foreign direct investment from the Emirates totaled $1.6 billion. In January–March 2026, bilateral trade between Kazakhstan and the UAE amounted to $45.8 million. Over the past 20 years, Emirati investment in Kazakhstan has exceeded $7 billion, including around $3 billion over the past two and a half years. That same day, President Tokayev met with Sergio Gor, the U.S. president’s special envoy for South and Central Asia. Gor delivered a personal message from President Donald Trump congratulating Tokayev ahead of the 35th anniversary of Kazakhstan’s independence. They discussed the development of the Kazakhstan-U.S. enhanced strategic partnership, including cooperation in artificial intelligence and digitalization. According to the official readout, they also discussed the Kazakh president’s planned participation in the G20 summit, scheduled to take place in Miami in December 2026. Tokayev said: “I am currently preparing to take part in the G20 Summit in Miami. I believe this will also be a good opportunity to discuss the issues on the bilateral agenda. We prefer not fine words, but tangible results and practical steps to advance our mutual cooperation.” Tokayev also reaffirmed his invitation for President Trump to visit Kazakhstan. Contacts between senior Central Asian and U.S. officials have intensified. The U.S. Embassy in Bishkek reported on September 2 that Gor had met with Tokayev and other regional leaders in Kyrgyzstan. In June, Gor met with Kazakhstan’s foreign minister. Also in June, Tokayev met with Ben Black, chief executive officer of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), as part of Astana’s efforts to expand economic cooperation with Washington and attract more strategic investment. On July 10, Tokayev spoke by phone with President Trump. Another meeting of the secretariat of the C5+1 framework for U.S.-Central Asia cooperation took place in Ashgabat on September 9. Gor serves as both the U.S. ambassador to India and the U.S. president’s special envoy for South and Central Asia. Also on Saturday, Tokayev had an informal meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in New Delhi, at the Russian leader’s residence during his visit to India. Reports suggested the meeting was unplanned. No details of their discussion were released. On Sunday, September 13, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev delivered a speech at the plenary session of the BRICS Outreach Summit in New Delhi, focusing on the theme of "Strengthening Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation, and Stability." In his speech, Tokayev noted: “Last year, the volume of transit cargo transportation...

Cooperation

China Tajikistan Financial Cooperation Talks Focus on Banking Links

China and Tajikistan have discussed expanding financial cooperation, as Dushanbe looks to deepen banking links with one of its most important economic partners. The discussions took place on June 2 during a meeting between Firdavs Tolibzoda, chairman of the National Bank of Tajikistan, and Gu Shu, chairman of the Agricultural Bank of China, one of China’s largest lenders. The talks focused on practical banking links between the two countries, including easier settlement of trade payments, support for Chinese-backed investment projects, and the use of digital tools in Tajikistan’s financial sector. Tolibzoda described China as one of Tajikistan’s key strategic and economic partners and said cooperation has continued to grow. He noted that long-standing cooperation between Chinese banks and Tajik financial institutions has helped facilitate trade and investment flows between the two countries. The two sides also discussed the possibility of opening branches of Chinese banks in Tajikistan, a move Tajik officials said could further expand bilateral cooperation. The Chinese finance sector's role in Tajikistan has expanded alongside its wider economic presence. In 2025, China overtook Russia as Tajikistan’s largest trading partner for the first time, with bilateral trade reaching $964 million in January-May, up nearly 30% year-on-year. China’s share of Tajikistan’s foreign trade stood at 24.8%, compared with Russia’s 23.2%. During the meeting, Tajik officials presented an overview of the country’s economic performance, highlighting strong growth, stable inflation, and a banking sector they said had become more resilient. According to Tolibzoda, recent reforms have improved the performance of financial institutions, increased deposits, expanded lending to the real economy, and strengthened overall financial stability. Gu Shu welcomed the prospects for Tajikistan’s economic development and expressed the Agricultural Bank of China’s readiness to deepen cooperation with the National Bank of Tajikistan. Potential areas of cooperation include professional training and knowledge exchange, support for green finance initiatives, digital transformation projects, cybersecurity, compliance systems, and workforce development, he said. The meeting concluded with both sides reaffirming their interest in expanding financial cooperation and exploring new opportunities to strengthen economic ties between Tajikistan and China.

CSTO

CSTO Working Group on Military Training and Scientific Cooperation Opens in Bishkek

A working group meeting on military training and scientific cooperation under the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) opened in Bishkek today, bringing together delegations from Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan to coordinate officer education, joint curricula, and research collaboration across the bloc. The two-day session runs August 21–22 under Kyrgyzstan’s 2025 chairmanship. AKIpress reported the start of proceedings and its focus on aligning training and scientific work across member states. Officials have said the agenda will center on harmonizing military-education standards, expanding joint training for specialized branches, and mapping priority research areas that can be shared among defense academies and laboratories across the alliance. Outcomes from the Bishkek meeting are expected to inform the CSTO’s rolling program of joint trainings and institutional cooperation in 2026 and beyond. Recent Track Record in Central Asia Today’s meeting builds on a stepped-up schedule of CSTO drills and staff talks in Central Asia. In September 2024, Kyrgyzstan hosted the active phase of “Interaction-2024,” “Search-2024,” and “Echelon-2024” exercises designed to synchronize command-and-control, reconnaissance, logistics, and support elements of the alliance’s collective forces. The Kyrgyz leg concluded with combined operations demonstrations and evaluation of interoperability gains. In October 2024, Tajikistan hosted “Rubezh-2024,” focused on Central Asia’s rapid-deployment forces and scenarios involving incursions by illegal armed groups, hostage rescue, and air-defense coordination. The CSTO reported that the exercise’s operational objectives were achieved and that joint tactics were refined during the active phase at the Harbmaidon range. This year, the organization also ran a strategic command-staff training for its Joint Staff and national ministries on March 17–20, 2025, rehearsing planning and coordination procedures for regional contingencies - part of the bloc’s annual joint-training cycle. Policy framework and next steps The Bishkek working group is meeting against the backdrop of decisions taken by defense ministers in Bishkek on May 28, 2025, when CSTO members approved the Plan of Military Cooperation for 2026–2030 and the Plan of joint training for 2026 - documents that set training priorities, exercise calendars, and institutional cooperation goals across the alliance. By aligning academy programs and research agendas, and pairing them with the long-term exercise plan, the CSTO is aiming to standardize specialist training (from signals and EW to logistics and UAV operations), expand exchanges among defense universities, and convert lessons from recent drills into updated curricula. As chair, Kyrgyzstan is expected to circulate agreed proposals from this week’s sessions to the Council of Defense Ministers for inclusion in the 2026 training calendar and for incorporation into the 2026–2030 cooperation framework.