Tashkent time is - 
17 December 2009
02:37 -
US launching annual bilateral consultations with Central Asian states
U.S. Administration is launching a new pattern of regular high-level consultations with Central Asian countries, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Central and South Asia, George Krol said Tuesday.
As he addressed Congressional hearings, he said the first such consultations will be held later this week when a delegation from Uzbekistan led by the country’s Foreign Minister, Vladimir Norov, visits Washington.
The U.S. hopes to launch similar annual consultations with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan in the coming few months, Krol said.
The dialogues will Central Asian political leaders will concentrate on practical steps that can be taken to facilitate realistic progress in the areas presenting mutual interest, he said.
Krol indicated that the U.S. Administration would like to go over from words to deeds.
Addressing the same hearings, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense David Sedney said the U.S. has considerably increased the shipments of non-military cargoes to Afghanistan along a route stretching across the territories of Central Asian countries.
Over the past eleven months, the U.S. has delivered almost 5,000 containers along a railway route that crosses the territories of Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan.
In line with new demands of the international coalition forces in Afghanistan, the quantities of the containers will increase next year, Sedney said.
He also said that, apart from the railway route, the Pentagon is also intensively using air corridors opened by Central Asian countries.
U.S. President Barack Obama made public Washington’s new strategy in Afghanistan at the beginning of this month.
It envisions the deployment of an additional 30,000 servicemen on the Afghan territory who will join the 68,000-strong contingent already there.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Michael Mullen told correspondents during a visit to Kabul that the first group of soldiers from the supplementary contingent is expected in Afghanistan already this week.
An increase in the strength of the contingent automatically means an increase in the deliveries of supplies and other cargoes.
U.S. officials especially single out in this sense the operations of the center for the handling of transit cargoes that is located at Manas airport of Kyrgyzstan’s capital Bishkek, saying it is a critical point for the airlifting of personnel and refueling of jets. // Itar-Tass
As he addressed Congressional hearings, he said the first such consultations will be held later this week when a delegation from Uzbekistan led by the country’s Foreign Minister, Vladimir Norov, visits Washington.
The U.S. hopes to launch similar annual consultations with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan in the coming few months, Krol said.
The dialogues will Central Asian political leaders will concentrate on practical steps that can be taken to facilitate realistic progress in the areas presenting mutual interest, he said.
Krol indicated that the U.S. Administration would like to go over from words to deeds.
Addressing the same hearings, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense David Sedney said the U.S. has considerably increased the shipments of non-military cargoes to Afghanistan along a route stretching across the territories of Central Asian countries.
Over the past eleven months, the U.S. has delivered almost 5,000 containers along a railway route that crosses the territories of Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan.
In line with new demands of the international coalition forces in Afghanistan, the quantities of the containers will increase next year, Sedney said.
He also said that, apart from the railway route, the Pentagon is also intensively using air corridors opened by Central Asian countries.
U.S. President Barack Obama made public Washington’s new strategy in Afghanistan at the beginning of this month.
It envisions the deployment of an additional 30,000 servicemen on the Afghan territory who will join the 68,000-strong contingent already there.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Michael Mullen told correspondents during a visit to Kabul that the first group of soldiers from the supplementary contingent is expected in Afghanistan already this week.
An increase in the strength of the contingent automatically means an increase in the deliveries of supplies and other cargoes.
U.S. officials especially single out in this sense the operations of the center for the handling of transit cargoes that is located at Manas airport of Kyrgyzstan’s capital Bishkek, saying it is a critical point for the airlifting of personnel and refueling of jets. // Itar-Tass
