Washington has expectations from Central Asia

Before the meeting of foreign ministers of the "big 20" in India, the ministers of rival countries visited each other in different places. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov arrived in Baku on February 27, and from there he attended the meeting in Delhi. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken went to Delhi after visiting Central Asian countries.

Anthony Blinken participated in the 5+1 format meeting in Central Asian countries. In addition to Blinken, the foreign ministers of 5 Central Asian countries participated in this meeting. This format has been operating since 2015. Blinken also met with the presidents of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan and exchanged wide views on the expansion of relations.

The main goal of Washington's cooperation with this region is to reduce the influence of Russia and China in Central Asia. However, in order to achieve this, US investments in Central Asian countries should increase. Otherwise, it will not be possible to suppress Russia and China in the region. There are several factors working in favor of Russia and China.

Firstly, Millions of citizens of Central Asian countries work as cheap labor in Russia and send their earnings home. That finance has a certain share in the budgets of Central Asian countries.

Second, The pipelines of several Central Asian countries pass through Russia. Kazakhstan transports its oil, and Turkmenistan's gas, through pipelines passing through Russia to Dumya markets. It is true that at this time, Russia also dictates the conditions to Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan also have energy cooperation with China.

thirdly, China has invested billions of dollars in Central Asian countries. Central Asian countries have huge debts to China. In exchange for these debts, Beijing tries to dictate terms to those countries in a number of cases.

Nevertheless, Washington informs Central Asian countries about the threat of Russia and China. For example, Anthony Blinken mentioned Russia 10 times during his press conference in Astana and called this country an aggressor each time. Blinken also said at the press conference that he supports the reform program of Kazakhstan President Tokayev.

Although Blinken did not name China at the press conference, he urged his Central Asian colleagues to be careful in their relations with Beijing in closed meetings. In 2023, China increased its military budget by 7 phases. This is equivalent to about 225 billion dollars.

Beijing has linked the increase in military spending to the challenges it faces. Obviously, it is about the rising tension around Taiwan. However, there is tension in China's relations with Taiwan and the US as well as neighboring countries. Because of this, Beijing has increased its military spending. There is no tension in Beijing's relations with Central Asian countries. Nevertheless, China's growing military power is also closely watched by Central Asian countries.

"Atlas" Research Center