Pompeo praises US-Kazakhstan strategic partnership

NUR-SULTAN, Kazakhstan – US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Kazakhstan on February 2 as part of his tour of former Soviet republics for talks focusing on strategic cooperation.
Pompeo, who in his role as Secretary of State is the number three in Washington after the President and Vice President, met with Kazakhstan’s Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tleuberdi, First President Nursultan Nazarbayev, and President Kassym Jomart Tokayev.
“Secretary Pompeo discussed a range of global and regional issues with Kazakhstan’s elder statesman and praised the breadth and depth of the bilateral relationship begun under (Nursultan) Nazarbayev’s leadership. The Secretary commended Nazarbayev’s legacy of principled leadership on nuclear non-proliferation, highlighting the positive model set by Kazakhstan’s repatriation of its citizens from Syria and Iraq. Secretary Pompeo encouraged Kazakhstan to continue reforms in support of civil society and fundamental freedoms,” a spokesman for Pompeo’s office said.
“We welcome the steps you have taken to transit power. Your president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev outlined his ambitious programme aimed at growing the country’s economy and increasing people’s confidence in the government,” Pompeo said, adding “You can see the (positive results) when more American businesses come. They come as a result of the fact that conditions here are improving, that the real reforms are being made.”
Pompeo also hailed the swift response by Kazakhstan, which shares a 1,800-kilometre border with China, to the Coronavirus outbreak.
In response to a journalist’s question about the prospects for cooperation, Pompeo said the US’ role in Central Asia is “to support the independence and prosperity of the republics of the region” and added that the two sides had “discussed new opportunities and areas for American investment. However, for the influx of new investments, it is necessary to have the rule of law, transparency, and investment protection in Kazakhstan.”
“We want each of the nations in Central Asia to be independent and sovereign, not a supplicant or a vassal state of any other country in the region,” said Pompeo while expressing Washington’s support for Kazakhstan continuing its role as an impartial arbiter in the region who is not beholden to either Russia and China.
Pompeo also urged Kazakh officials to join Washington in pressing China over its treatment of Muslim minorities in Xinjiang. He said the plight of Muslims in Xinjiang was “a problem that’s got to be taken care of,” as he praised Kazakh authorities for not repatriating ethnic Kazakhs from China who have sought refuge in Kazakhstan.
“The United States urges all countries to join us in pressing for an immediate end to this repression,” Pompeo said earlier in a joint press conference with Foreign Minister Tileuberdi.
Turning to the issue of human rights, Pompeo said “every nation has to get this right for itself. The Kazakh people must demand it, they must require it, and they need to continue to talk about it. We hope these improvements will continue.”
Kazakhstan’s foreign minister, Tleuberdi, commented that Kazakhstan and the US are in the process of developing an expanded strategic partnership and added that the United States is one of the single-largest investors in the Kazakh economy.
“Significant potential for strengthening economic cooperation is provided by information technologies, knowledge-intensive branches of industrial production,” said Tleuberdi, who noted that the recently signed Open Skies Agreement between the two countries will allow for international safety standards to be implemented at all Kazakh airlines and airports.
The Open Skies Agreement Open that was signed by the American and Kazakh governments on January 6 allows airlines to make commercial decisions based on market demand without intervention from government regulators.  Air carriers can provide more affordable, convenient, and efficient air services to consumers and shippers, thereby promoting travel and trade.
The Agreement establishes a modern civil aviation relationship between the US and Kazakhstan, which is consistent with American international aviation policy.  It includes unrestricted capacity and frequency of services, open route rights, a liberal charter regime, and open code-sharing opportunities.