The leaders of the Central Asian states at the seventh Consultative Meeting in Tashkent on Sunday unanimously supported Azerbaijan’s accession to this format as a full-fledged participant. This was announced by Sherzod Asadov, the press secretary of the President of Uzbekistan, Gazeta.uz reports.
The meeting was attended by the presidents of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov, Tajikistan Emamoli Rahmon, Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov and Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev. The meeting was chaired by the president of Uzbekistan Shafkat Mirziyoyev.
“President Shavkat Mirziyoyev emphasized that this step opens a new stage of cooperation, forming a unified space of interaction between Central Asia and the South Caucasus,” Sherzod Asadov noted.
Earlier, Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev took part in the Consultative Meetings in Dushanbe in 2023 and in Astana in 2024 as an honorary guest and in expanded format.
In his address, the President of Uzbekistan outlined the key directions for the further development of the region:
1. A New Stage of Regional Integration
In a short period, Central Asia has moved from dialogue to real partnership: territorial issues have been resolved, borders opened, and cooperation in energy, transport, and trade established. Mutual trade volume has reached $10.7 billion, and investments have grown by 17%.
2. Strengthening Institutional Architecture
A proposal has been made to transform the meeting format into a strategic platform — the “Community of Central Asia,” to establish a Secretariat and a Council of Elders, and to enhance the status of national coordinators.
3. Economy and Investment
The countries of the region are capable of increasing mutual trade by 1.5–2 times. The President of Uzbekistan proposed to:
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adopt a Regional Program for Trade and Economic Cooperation until 2035;
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develop a Declaration on a Common Investment Space;
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promote joint development of e-commerce.
4. Infrastructure and Transport
Uzbekistan called for consolidating efforts on major projects — the China–Kyrgyzstan–Uzbekistan railway, the Trans-Afghan corridor, as well as the expansion of trans-Caspian routes. A proposal was made to create a Council for Infrastructure Development.
5. Security and Afghanistan
A Concept of Regional Security and a Risk Catalog have been submitted for approval. The president emphasized the importance of involving Afghanistan in regional energy and transport projects and proposed making the “Fergana Peace Forum” an annual international format.
6. Climate and Water
Uzbekistan proposed declaring 2026–2036 the Decade of Practical Action on the Rational Use of Water in Central Asia, as well as establishing a Regional Center of Competence in Water Management.
7. Humanitarian Sphere
Support was expressed for the development of scientific and cultural exchange. The president proposed holding an annual International Congress on Spiritual Heritage, creating a Research Fund, and promoting a UN General Assembly resolution on the contribution of the region’s thinkers.
The president concluded his speech with the main message: “Our strength lies in unity. Our path to success is in friendship and cooperation.”
Uzbekistan also congratulated Turkmenistan on assuming the chairmanship of the new format “Central Asia and Azerbaijan” and reaffirmed its readiness to provide comprehensive support.
The format of the Consultative Meetings was initiated in 2017. “For the first time in many years, the leaders of the region have begun a systematic and regular dialogue without external mediation, which has become a symbol of a new political mindset — trust-based, open, and grounded in understanding common interests. It is precisely thanks to the dialogue within the Consultative Meetings that a number of long-standing contradictions have been resolved, and the region has moved from mistrust to genuine cooperation,” President Shavkat Mirziyoyev noted in his recent article, Central Asia on the Threshold of a New Era.
CentralasianLIGHT.org
November 17, 2025