Britain wants to build partnerships with Uzbekistan and Central Asia, mentioning that the UK is not asking to choose sides, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron shared during a visit to Tashkent.
“Central Asia, you are an important region of the world. You have very strong neighbors in your region that you have partnerships with. What I am here to say is that we are not asking you to choose between those partners and a country like Britain…,” David Cameron replied to the reporter’s questions following a meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“You should have the choice. If you want to partner with us on education, on climate change, on business, on trade, we want to be here to build those partnerships. We are not asking you to make that choice, we are giving you the choice, which I think is the important thing,” he added.
David Cameron noted that Britain and Central Asia face similar challenges. “How do we create jobs? How do we create prosperity? How do we make sure people in our countries get a satisfying chance of a job and a voice in their life? That’s what it’s all about. And that is why I’m here today,” the foreign secretary highlighted.
On April 23, David Cameron visited Uzbekistan as part of an official visit to all five Central Asian countries and Mongolia. He has already traveled to Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, where he met with Presidents Emomali Rahmon and Sadyr Zhaparov.
In Tashkent, the foreign ministers of Uzbekistan and the United Kingdom signed a Declaration on Comprehensive Cooperation and a Memorandum of Understanding focusing on regional and international connectivity, as well as infrastructure. According to Minister of foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan Bakhtiyor Saidov, the focus of the meeting was on building up economic ties.
Ahead of his visit to Uzbekistan, David Cameron published an op-ed at Gazeta.uz, outlining priority areas that should raise cooperation to a new level, highlighting the expansion of cooperation in economic development and education, as well as strengthening the independence of countries in the region.
