Azerbaijan, Baku, July 5 / Trend /
Trend commentator Arzu Naghiyev
A large delegation consisting of representatives from the State Department and U.S. Congress is expected to visit Uzbekistan in the near future.
Two successful visits of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Uzbekistan and the return visit of the Uzbek parliament delegation to the U.S. are being regularly covered in the press.
The opening ceremony of the General Motors new plant has been held in Uzbekistan this month. Landing the Boeing Dreamliner new aircraft model at Tashkent airport last month demonstrates great potential for expanding economic cooperation and even global air routes.
Why do all these processes take place now?
Iran's issues, the operation in Afghanistan, the establishment of military bases in Uzbekistan will be discussed at the upcoming meeting with U.S military and diplomatic leadership in Tashkent.
The U.S. has sought military cooperation for a long time with Uzbekistan because of the strategic and geopolitical positions of the country. Uzbekistan's obligations as a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) were one of the main factors that can prevent it and the creation of U.S bases in the Republic.
The U.S has repeatedly offered Tashkent to leave this union within the format of bilateral relations to create a 'transit point' or base and has achieved a fundamental change in the situation now. In late June, Tashkent officially applied to the Secretariat of the Organisation of Collective Security Treaty and announced about its decision to suspend Uzbekistan's participation in the CSTO. According to the appeal, the preference for bilateral relations with Afghanistan and that the plans of the military cooperation of the CSTO member states do not suit Uzbekistan are indicated as a reason.
It was previously stressed that there is a version that while withdrawing the U.S. troops from Afghanistan, they are 'delayed' at a military base in Uzbekistan. It is known that the Pentagon during the negotiations with Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan proposes to leave some military equipment in these countries after NATO troops are withdrawn from Afghanistan in 2014. It considers the use of military bases in Central Asia as an ideal variant. Therefore, Uzbekistan has reached agreement with the U.S and thinks that it will once again achieve the opening of a military base, once closed on its territory.
The allies' consent would be required within CSTO for this to become a reality. It is not necessary in the present situation. Perhaps, the U.S will provide Uzbekistan with financial and military support by including it in its list of strategic partners and taking on a number of guarantees for security. This means that the U.S. will turn Uzbekistan into the main ally and its base in the region.
Thus, Dushanbe and Bishkek, as a logical result of the line pursued by Tashkent, one way or another will make clear their plans, choosing between Washington and Moscow in the near future,.
In contemporary conditions, Russia is trying to narrow the scope of influence of China and the U.S in Central Asia, but it is unable to carry out systematic and consistent policy in the region. The reason is that Russia has failed in its usual form to fulfil its obligations on the South Caucasus and Central Asia, as well as weakening the influence in the region.