Cameron seeks to build ties with Central Asian nations

THE Foreign Secretary has completed a historic tour of all five former Soviet Central Asian states and Mongolia to drum up support for the West along Russia’s southern border.

During his five-day mission, Lord Cameron became the first British foreign minister to visit Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan, and the first to visit Uzbekistan since 1997.

“We’re here because we believe you should be able to make a choice, to partner with us in a way that is good for both our security and our prosperity,” he told reporters after meeting Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the Kazakh president, in Astana, the country’s futuristic capital.

A parliamentary report last year criticised the Government for a lack of interest in Central Asia despite its strategic importance. The resource-rich region is wedged between China, Russia, Afghanistan, Iran and the Caspian Sea, and Beijing and Moscow consider dominance in the area a priority.

Since its invasion of Ukraine two years ago, Russia has looked to Central Asia to help it dodge sanctions and has expanded military and security ties.

It has also used Central Asia’s railway network to send fuel to Iran as payment for drones and missiles.

Rick Fawn, a professor at the University of St Andrews, said that Lord Cameron’s visit was a prestige trip for Britain in which his status as a former prime minister impressed regional leaders.

Prof Fawn said: “It is at least some British flag-waving, especially in Central Asia where there is now fluidity, opportunity and danger because of shifting Russian capacities. This is space that will otherwise continue to be filled by China.”