DUSHANBE, January 27, 2009, Asia-Plus — A statement made by Russian president Dmitry Medvedev in Tashkent over the water issue in the Central Asian region is most likely diplomatic getting away from this problem, Sayfullo Safarov, deputy director of the Center for Strategic Studies, said in an interview with Asia-Plus.
According to him, the Kremlin is interested in stable interstate relations in Central Asia. “Use of water and energy resources has become the key problem in these relations, and approach of Uzbekistan [as downstream country] to solution of this problem differs from the position Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan share on this problem,” the deputy director of Tajik think tank said.
Actually, the position of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan is not aimed against interests of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, according to him. “Here, the primary importance is assigned to interests of the Central Asian region as a whole,” stressed the expert, “I think the European Union and the United States have gradually begun realizing this position and they are taking steps to promote solution of the water problem in Central Asia on mutually beneficial terms.”
There ought not to forget that there are also Afghanistan and Turkmenistan that also need water, he added. “It is impossible to solve the regional development problems without end-to-end solution of the water problem in the region,” Safarov said.
We will recall that speaking at press conference in Tashkent on January 23 after Uzbek-Russian negotiations, Uzbek President Islam Karimov noted that Moscow should influence Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan over solution of the water problem in Central Asia.
Speaking to reporters, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev gave to understand that it was not bilateral but multilateral issue. “Hydropower plants in Central Asia should be built with the regard to the interests of all neighboring countries as well as in compliance with international law on use of waters of the cross-border rivers,” he said. Otherwise, they will have to solve problems arising not in economic but political terms, the Russian president said. In his opinion, all the interested sides should discuss and solve the issue jointly. Medvedev added that if there is no a common agreement of all sides, Russia will refrain from participating in such projects.
