Central and South Asian Connectivity: from a common past to a prosperous future

On August 18, 2021, was held an international scientific and practical conference on the topic: “Connectivity of Central and South Asia: Preconditions, Prospects, Geostrategic significance”.

The event was organized by the Senate of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the University of World Economy and Diplomacy together with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation Representative Office for Central Asia and the International Institute for Central Asia.

The conference was attended by members of the Senate and deputies of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan, representatives of foreign ministries, parliaments, leading scientists and experts from Central and South Asia, as well as a number of other states.

During the event, the results of the Tashkent Conference “Central and South Asia: regional interconnectedness. Challenges and Opportunities” held in July 2021 were discussed and analyzed in detail.

The speakers at the event, highly appreciating the Tashkent conference, stressed that it has become a platform for the development of mutually beneficial strategic projects in the field of trade, economy, transport, communication, culture and humanitarian cooperation.

The conference participants noted that the rapid development of events in Afghanistan in recent days has once again demonstrated the need for a deep and comprehensive understanding of the situation in the region, finding ways to preserve peace and stability, and ensuring conditions for sustainable development. In their opinion, this once again proves the relevance of the proposals and initiatives voiced during the Tashkent Conference to strengthen multilateral cooperation between the countries of the region in the implementation of regional projects that contribute to solving socio-economic issues.

At the same time, they paid special attention to the issues of studying theoretical issues of cooperation between the countries of Central and South Asia, determining the directions of scientific research in order to study current problems in the field of investment, transport and communication, water and energy, environmental, cultural and humanitarian policy.

During the discussion, the participants of the event made concrete proposals for the implementation of the initiatives put forward during the Tashkent Conference, as well as recommendations for strengthening the role of international organizations and civil society institutions in the implementation of projects aimed at regional development and capacity-building to counter modern challenges and threats.

In general, the international forum has become an active platform for free scientific and expert discussion of the entire range of topical issues of development and strengthening of regional relations between the countries of Central and South Asia.

Summarizing the results of the discussions, the participants came to the conclusion that solving the problems raised is not a one-year task. Constant monitoring of the ongoing processes, fundamental and applied research is required, for which it is necessary to focus the attention of researchers on a number of relevant scientific areas.

Following the results of the scientific and practical conference, it was decided to prepare a methodological guide for a wide range of readers, explaining in detail the main results and achievements of the Tashkent conference “Central and South Asia: regional interconnectedness. Challenges and Opportunities”.