Karimov hails Nazarbayev's farsighted approach

    President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov has praised the farsighted approach of President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Tengrinews reports.
    Islam Karimov arrived in Astana on an official visit on Tuesday, November 25. He met with Nazarbayev and the two discussed the implementation of agreements reached during the Kazakh president’s visit to Uzbekistan in June 2013.
    Karimov said that when signing the Treaty on Strategic Partnership last year he did not pay much attention to it, but now he was convinced this move was necessary, especially in light of the recent standoff between Russia and the West.
    In particular, he stressed the farsighted policy of President Nazarbayev who foresaw that the document had to be signed last year. "It is becoming more and more important today than was the case yesterday, and this is very meaningful for me. I am saying there are people in the world that over the years have become wiser. I think that Nursultan Nazarbayev, I want to give you a compliment, there are people to whom Allah bestows this wisdom at a young age and childhood. Therefore, it is very difficult to combine these in one person, but nevertheless, when it is natural trait of the person, his far-reaching vision and confidence have to be recognized once again. Especially with us, signing the document last year that will come into effect from January 1 next year, " Karimov said.
    The two sides also considered priority areas for bilateral cooperation in trade, water and energy, transport, culture and humanitarian areas. In addition, the two leaders broached the key aspects of regional security as well as current issues on the international agenda.
    Nazarbayev stressed Kazakhstan's intent to deepen friendly ties and bilateral cooperation with Uzbekistan in all areas since "the stability and development of the region depends on the position and the cooperation of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan".
    The President of Uzbekistan, in turn, emphasized the rapidly changing situation in the world today and in regard to this, he pointed to the need to meet more often and coordinate their joint efforts.
    “In these circumstances, each country is looking for support, adjusts its plans and relies on its close neighbors. For us, Kazakhstan is the closest country, close nation that has been with us in harsh and joyful times. We have always resorted to each other's help. I would like to express my great respect for the Kazakh people who move confidently towards prosperity. We need to meet more often in order to ‘compare notes’ and jointly determine our future prospects,” Islam Karimov said.
    Uzbekistan is Kazakhstan's leading trading partner in the Central Asian region, however, according to President Nazarbayev, the two countries had not yet fully unleashed the economic potential of their cooperation, therefore Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan had to work on increasing the volumes of trade.
    Nazarbayev expressed his confidence that the negotiations would serve to strengthen the bilateral ties including those in trade.
    "During today's negotiations, we emphasized our firm belief in the commonality and indivisibility of our long-term strategic and national priorities, reaffirmed the political will and mutual commitment to coordinate and work together to address our ambitious goals and objectives,” the President of Uzbekistan concluded, according to Tengrinews.kz.