Kazakhstan Has Active Role to Play in "Great Game", Foreign Minister Says

Kazakhstan is successfully playing an active role in all the processes that take place in Central Asia, Foreign Minister Kassymzhomart Tokaev said while in Beijing this week, commenting on his country's participation in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

WASHINGTON, DC (PRWEB) January 20, 2004 -- Kazakhstan is successfully playing an active role in all the processes that take place in Central Asia, Foreign Minister Kassymzhomart Tokaev said while in Beijing this week, commenting on his country's participation in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

Speaking to Kazakh reporters after a meeting of the foreign ministers of the six-nation Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) on January 14, Minister Tokaev said Kazakhstan needs to be very sensitive and flexible in relation to these processes.

He noted, "We have understood that, one way or the other, Kazakhstan will be involved in the great game being played out in Central Asia. Indeed, our region is very important and attracts attention of key countries of the world, and not just of China and Russia, but of the United States, India, Pakistan, Turkey and Iran."

According to Kazinform news agency, the Minister stressed that "Kazakhstan is not a passive observer of the unfolding competition. We are a large regional power. Kazakhstan's economy has a good reputation in the world, and we pursue a very active foreign policy."

The region of Central Asia has been attracting growing attention since the collapse of the Soviet Union 12 years ago, primarily because of its key geographic position in the heart of Eurasia and abundant energy reserves in Kazakhstan and elsewhere. In recent years, the countries of the region gained even greater significance as participants of the anti-terrorist operation in Afghanistan. The secular nature and the religious and ethnic diversity and tolerance of Kazakhstan also make it an important bulwark against extremist and fundamentalist forces seeking to hijack the Islamic religion.

Such situation and Kazakhstan's position in "a sensitive region, bordering both China and Russia, requires an active foreign policy," the Foreign Minister believes.

Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, in existence since 2002. Its goals are to promote multilateral cooperation in security and economy. Last year it staged its first antiterrorist exercises in Kazakhstan and China. In June 2004, the six presidents are slated to inaugurate the group's Regional Antiterrorist Center (RATC) in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan.
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