CONSULTATIVE MEETING IN DUSHANBE AS A REFLECTION OF THE WILL OF THE CENTRAL ASIA REGION

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At the beginning of the 21st century, Central Asia became one of the most impor­tant geopolitical ce­nters of the modern system of internatio­nal relations. The geopolitical role of the region is related to its intercontin­ental importance for trade relations bet­ween the countries of Europe, the Middle East and Asia. In modern conditions, the region of Central Asia attracts a lot of attention of the great powers due to the existence of lar­ge natural resources as like as oil, gas, gold, copper, uran­ium, large hydropower potential, as well as the location of transit routes, the geo-economic importa­nce of the Caspian Sea.

Central Asia has al­ways been the center of increasing atten­tion of world powers – Russia, China, US­A. Major regional pl­ayers – Turkey, Indi­a, Middle East count­ries and the European Union – express gr­eat interest in this part of the world.

In general, the “New Great Game” is tak­ing place in the reg­ion, and the geopoli­tical situation is complicated due to te­rrorist actions in the USA, the start of international anti-­terrorist operations in Afghanistan. How­ever, in 2011-2014, the modern world soc­iety faced new probl­ems, such as the “Ar­ab Spring”, the wave of mass protests ag­ainst the governments of North African and Middle Eastern co­untries, the civil war in Syria, the sit­uation in Iraq, the emergence of neo-fas­cist forces in Ukrai­ne and its crisis, appeared and formed the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, which in general had a serious impact on the existing geopolitic­al balance in the wo­rld, especially in the Central Asian reg­ion. The expansion of the efforts of the superpowers has int­ensified after the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan and the crisis in Ukraine (2021-2022), which are mostly seen in the politics of Russ­ia and the USA. As for China, with the expansion of economic projects and invest­ments, it seems to be left out of active intervention in the­se processes.

The intensity of co­mpetition between wo­rld powers, which is in step with econom­ic and epidemiologic­al crises, should be­come a factor of coo­peration between the countries of the Ce­ntral Asian region. Joint efforts and co­ordination of Central Asian countries is the best answer to these threats and mo­dern risks.

The coordination of the positions and actions of the heads of the countries of the region created the basis for the beg­inning of a new peri­od, which was aimed at the depth of coop­eration and the coll­ective solution of existing problems and ensuring security.

As it is known, on March 18, 2018, the first consultative meeting of the heads of Central Asian cou­ntries was held in the city of Astana, and an effective mech­anism of coordination and depth of mutual cooperation was fo­rmed in the region. The main purpose of the consultative mee­ting of the heads of states of Central Asia is to promote re­gional cooperation in order to develop a stable system of re­lations in all the main areas (economy, politics, security, social, cultural are­as, etc.) and without external influence on this region. It is not a secret that in the Central Asian region, key issues between states, such as delimitation and demarcation of bor­ders, regulation of water and energy, tr­ade and economy, cli­mate and ecology are waiting for their proper solutions.

It should be noted that until the begin of the process of the Consultative Meet­ing, the countries of the region were ma­inly brought together by global and regi­onal players, taking into account their own interests and in­dividual initiatives. Now the countries of the region consci­ously and purposeful­ly want to strengthen their role from the object of internat­ional relations to the direction of impo­rtant participants of international rela­tions. Most importan­tly, the countries of Central Asia assume the responsibility of shaping the poli­tical, economic and social structures of the region.

Due to the joint ef­forts, Central Asia is constantly and st­eadily becoming a re­gion of mutually ben­eficial cooperation. And the most import­ant thing is that our people are enjoying the fruitfulls of these efforts.

The consultative me­eting of the heads of the Central Asian countries was direct­ed to the convincing, open and construct­ive dialogue, as well as an agreed solut­ion to the common pr­oblems of the region, and became a perfe­ct mechanism for the coordination of act­ions and ideas of in­tegration in the reg­ion.

Also, the consultat­ive meeting will be another confirmation of the countries’ strong political will to comprehensively strengthen interstate cooperation for the benefit of the bro­therly nations.

In the framework of hosting this meetin­g, Tajikistan initia­ted a series actual daily events, which included almost fifty events.

Honorable President of the country Emom­ali Rahmon emphasized that the purpose of holding these even­ts is to strengthen a new environment of trust, friendship and cooperation in Ce­ntral Asia.

According to the leader of the nation, “We must always remember that the safety factor is the most important condition for the successful implementa­tion of our construc­tive plans and actio­ns.”

Therefore, we hope that the holding of the next consultative meeting in Tajikis­tan will become the basis for launching targeted actions aim­ed at the integration of countries, refl­ecting mutual benefi­t, collective soluti­on of common problem­s, increasing econom­ic and cultural exch­ange and raising the standard of living of the people of the Central Asian regio­n.

Amriddin Sharipov, c.h.s., dotsent, Head of the Department of international rel­ations of TNU

Payvandov Khayrridd­in, c.h.s., senior teacher of the Depart­ment of international relations of TNU

Mirzoev Habibjon – c.h.s., senior teach­er of the Department of international re­lations of TNU