BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 18. Common strategic interests strengthen cooperation between Azerbaijan and Central Asia, First Deputy Director of the Institute for Strategic and Interregional Studies under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Akramjon Nematov, said at an international conference entitled 'C6: One region, shared future—enhancing strategic dialogue', Trend reports.
He noted that this cooperation is determined not only by geographical proximity, historical and cultural ties, and civilizational commonality, but also, of course, by the coincidence of strategic interests.
According to him, over the past eight years, a specific security architecture has been built in the region, which can be characterized as an emerging non-aligned security community.
"In 2018, consultative meetings of heads of state were launched—initially as a dialogue platform, but today they have become a fully fledged mechanism for interaction. This mechanism not only defines the main development vectors but also forms the institutional foundation for regional cooperation," the official explained.
He pointed out that the next stage was the development of sectoral cooperation.
"A two-year roadmap was adopted, within the framework of which regular meetings of the ministers of transport and energy began, as well as various forums—historians, youth, and other expert platforms. About four years ago, in my opinion, a new stage began—the formation of a more coherent security architecture. It began with the first meeting of security council secretaries in Kazakhstan. The next meeting took place last year in Samarkand," Nematov recalled.
Moreover, according to him, joint military exercises were organized for the first time between the countries of Central Asia and Azerbaijan.
"All this testifies to the consistent strengthening of coordination and trust in security at the regional level," he concluded.
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