UZBEK PRESIDENT TAKES PART IN UN SUMMIT
On September 20, Uzbekistan’s president Islam Karimov took part in the UN “Millennium Development Goals” plenary meeting in New York. Identifying wars and conflicts throughout the world as the major obstacles to development, Karimov’s speech at the meeting covered three major topics: ways for bringing peace to Afghanistan, stabilizing the situation in Kyrgyzstan, and issues of water usage in the Central Asian region. These topics were not accidental – each one touches upon Uzbekistan’s international and regional interests. Moreover, of President Karimov’s speech shed light on the positions Uzbekistan takes on the above-mentioned issues.
Speaking of Afghanistan, which remains a center of international tensions, President Karimov underlined that there is no military solution to the Afghan problem; rather, it should be resolved by the Afghans themselves together with the states interested in ending the war and stabilizing the situation in this state. Thus, the Uzbek president recalled the initiative of his country that was voiced in 2008 – a “6+3” Contact Group under UN auspices that would consist of countries which are interested in ending the war in Afghanistan and bringing the country to stability out of their own security concerns. Interestingly, Uzbekistan identified the U.S., NATO, Russia and the three Central Asian states bordering Afghanistan (Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan) as potential members of this group. The group’s main goal would be to propose the conflicting parties a program for cessation of military operations, finding a compromise solution on key problems and contradictions which divide the country, ensuring security and providing necessary guarantees.
Referring to the situation in southern Kyrgyzstan, President Karimov called it “a thoroughly thought out and well organized action by third parties”. He went on to state that the aim of the action was not only to instigate chaos and an uncontrollable situation in Kyrgyzstan, but also to draw Uzbekistan into the bloodshed, and finally to turn an interethnic conflict into an inter-state confrontation between Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.
In light of this, Islam Karimov stated that it would be reasonable to expect that the UN should assist in conducting an independent international investigation of the tragic events that took place in the southern Kyrgyzstan on June 11-14, 2010. That would allow for preventing an escalation of events in neighboring Kyrgyzstan.
The last issue brought up by the Uzbek president was the use of water resources and construction of dams in the Central Asian region. The issue was raised in light of the ongoing drying of the Aral Sea in the northwest of the republic. Thus, President Karimov once again emphasized that any dam projects of the upper riparian states of the region may cause irreparable ecological damage and dangerous anthropogenic catastrophes. Referring to international ecological organizations and experts, Islam Karimov noted that the construction of small hydropower stations would be much more rational and less dangerous.
Finally, Uzbekistan expressed support for the Global Action Plan for accelerating progress in achieving the Millennium Development Goals that was proposed by the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon. President Karimov reported on different aspects of his country’s progress towards reaching the goals. For instance, since independence, i.e. from 1991, the nation’s GDP grew by 3.5 times, the GDP per capita by 2.5 times, and the average salary by 14 times. Furthermore, he noted that 82.5 percent of Uzbekistan’s population currently has access to safe drinking water, and 83.5 percent is provided with natural gas. The level of maternal mortality decreased was halved and child mortality decreased by two thirds.
In spite of the reported progress, it should be remembered that Uzbekistan ranked 119 out of 182 in the 2007 Human Development Index report, and is still considered to have one of the lowest per capita incomes in the region. Nonetheless, the President emphasized that Uzbekistan’s development progress was possible only because his country went for its own model of democratization and transition to a socially oriented free market economy. The UN meeting thus provided an opportunity for justifying the current political and economic regime before the international community.
It seems that Karimov’s speech aimed to accomplish two main goals. First, to assure the international community that Uzbekistan is a successfully developing country with bright prospects. Second, to communicate Uzbekistan’s position on certain issues of international and regional importance which otherwise do not receive much coverage.
