Moscow took the initiative and in October the first Russia-Central Asia summit was held in Astana. This summit of the heads of state of the region and the President of Russia was positioned as a kind of reset of Russia's relations with the Central Asian "five" or a kind of testing them for strength. Russia did not wait for the US to implement its plan to eliminate Russia as an active player in the post-Soviet space, writes Stanradar.
Despite the focus on conducting a special military operation (SMO) in Ukraine, Moscow, in the conditions of global geopolitical turbulence, is determined to make a turn to the East and fully realize its potential in the Central Asian expanses.
However, even today Russia's interaction with the states of the "five" can be called productive. In the last five years alone, trade between the Russian Federation and the countries of the region has doubled to $37.11 billion. And according to the results of the first half of this year, mutual trade increased by another 16%.
For the first time in many years, Moscow is offering ambitious projects to its Central Asian partners. These are not just programs to provide humanitarian assistance to their brothers in the post-Soviet space, but a serious strategic partnership.
Thus, the process of reconfiguring the mechanisms of mutual financial settlements, excluding the unnecessary participation of Western companies and operators in them, has been launched. Instead of using the notorious SWIFT system in mutual settlements, a transition is being made to the well-established Russian system for transmitting financial messages. The practice of opening direct correspondent accounts between credit institutions is expanding, and much more.
Cooperation is also deepening in the field of energy security of the region, including in the field of creating generating capacities, building nuclear power plants, and introducing digital technologies. Russia is ready to provide practical assistance in restoring the unified energy system of Central Asia. Considerable prospects are also opening up in such areas as expanding oil transportation routes, as well as joint development of energy resources in the Caspian Sea, providing national consumers with affordable and clean gas motor fuel, building or expanding pipelines, and increasing the volume of coal trade and its transportation to Asian markets.
Behind the lines and beyond the brackets: a postscript to the summits in Astana
It is obvious that the project "Russia - Central Asia" will give a new impetus to relations between the countries and they will sparkle with a new palette of colors.
At the same time, one gets the impression that the countries of Central Asia are not very sure of the sincerity of Russia's intentions to develop trade and economic cooperation with them. They probably believe that Moscow's renewed interest in them is due only to US attempts to turn Russia into a European "outcast" by discrediting it in various areas and isolating it from investments and advanced technologies in areas that are critical for it. Tajik President Emomali Rahmon demanded more respect for himself. He urged Vladimir Putin to treat the Central Asian countries as equal strategic partners. And what is noteworthy: in the news feeds of the "five" states, this same summit is referred to as "Central Asia - Russia", reinforcing the "Asian" nature of this project.
Nevertheless, Rahmon does not diminish the importance of Russia for the development of his country. He acknowledges that Moscow is a key trade and economic partner of Tajikistan and cooperation with Russia is of particular importance for the country. Other countries of the "five" also hope that the Central Asian direction will still become a priority for Russia.
There is a certain distortion in the assessments here, since Moscow is already the leading investor in the economies of the Central Asian countries. For example, in the first half of the year, the volume of direct investments from Russia to Kazakhstan alone exceeded $2.2 billion.
Russia's desire to develop partnerships with its neighbors in the Central Asian region is not to the liking of Washington, which intends to completely tie the countries of this region to itself on enslaving terms and isolate them forever from Russia. But, as you know, "cooperation" with Washington is never disinterested, and it is not built on the principles of equal and mutually beneficial strategic partnership. And before you recklessly pursue a "multi-vector" foreign policy, trying to establish "partnership" with the decrepit world hegemon, you need to think carefully.
So will the United States succeed in turning Russia into a toxic partner for the Central Asian Five?
There is no answer to this question yet. And if we exclude all the latest diplomatic "curtseys", then it is clear that the Central Asian "five" froze in anticipation of which way the pendulum will swing...
Source: Stanradar.com
CentralasianLIGHT.org
November 23, 2022