Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev began a visit to the Uzbek capital of Tashkent on Wednesday. Meetings between the leaders of the two Central Asian states invariably draw attention due to the ambiguous ties between the two countries, Vestnik Kavkaza reports.
The geopolitical superiority of Kazakhstan in the region has encountered efforts by the Uzbek authorities to change the situation. Nevertheless, a certain thaw in bilateral relations is hoped for.
As a result of the meeting between Nazarbayev and his Uzbek counterpart Islam Karimov, a joint declaration expressing confidence that the talks would contribute to the consolidation of friendly relations was signed.
A number of other documents on bilateral cooperation were also signed. The two countries agreed to allocate land for the construction of their respective diplomatic missions and the foreign ministries agreed to continue working together. Diplomatic relations between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan were established on November 23, 1992. Bilateral trade in 2009 reached $1.19 billion, a decline of 33% from 2008.
