Kazakhstan’s proposal: How C5+ with the US strengthened Central Asia’s global role
The evolution of the C5+1 format, its key achievements in strengthening cooperation between Central Asia and the United States, and its future prospects amid global geopolitical challenges were among the key topics discussed by Kazakhstan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Kairat Umarov in an exclusive interview with Silk Way TV Channel, Qazinform News Agency correspondent reports.
- The C5+ format has become an important mechanism for strengthening Central Asia’s cooperation with global partners. Kazakhstan played an initiating role in advancing this format as early as 2013. Could you tell us how the idea emerged and evolved into the diplomatic platform we see today?
- This is a very interesting question because, as you said, I was personally involved in the creation of the C5+ format. Even before C5+1 with the United States began, similar platforms already existed, such as Central Asia+Japan, Central Asia+South Korea, and Central Asia+European Union.
When the idea of creating a similar format with the United States emerged, we started discussing it with the State Department.
At that time, the idea was not so popular in the United States because they traditionally discussed Central Asian affairs with countries like Russia and China. The idea was to find a different way for the United States to talk directly to Central Asian ministers, without going through other countries.
Of course, this was not exclusive, and they could continue the same consultations with those countries, but it was very important to have those direct discussions and contacts with Central Asian countries. The idea was born even earlier than 2013.
It was my good friend, whom I had known for many years, Dr. Frederick Starr, who is the chairman of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute at Johns Hopkins. He was extensively working on Central Asia and the wider region. He knows quite a bit about the history and developments.
When I was appointed ambassador to Washington in 2013 and arrived in January in Washington, D.C., I had to meet with some of my friends from previous engagements. One of the first meetings was with Frederick Starr, and he told me that he had proposed such an idea in his book: a mechanism for the US Secretary of State to meet with the foreign ministers of Central Asia. Maybe it was not exactly the same, but he was talking about this kind of interaction, and he said that nobody paid attention to it.
The idea was very topical and useful, but the US administration was not taking it forward. I said to him, "Okay, let's work together on this issue," and I proposed it to the State Department. At that time, there was a change in leadership. It was the second term of President Obama, and there was new leadership in Central Asian and South Asian affairs. Nisha Biswal became the Assistant Secretary of State, and we talked about this idea. She said, "Okay, let's look at that, but no promises." Two years later, she came back to me and said that the idea had received...
- It took two years to decide.
- It took them 2 years, I think, to consult with those who were somehow engaged in the field, so to say, at the State Department and maybe some other structures.
But the idea was to have this direct contact with Central Asian countries, and she came up with this idea. Instead of Central Asia plus US, she said, why don't we just make a shortened version, C5+1? I said, great idea. Let's just work on it.
And so, C5+1 was coined.
- More than a decade later, what are the main achievements of the C5+ format, particularly given that two U.S. presidents have met with Central Asian leaders to discuss political, economic, trade, and investment cooperation?
- So, the idea of Frederick Starr, under my personal kind of insistence with the State Department, we got this mechanism working. Now, after 2015, more than one decade has passed. It's interesting that it started as a ministerial level.
Today, it is already an institutionalized body with its own secretariat. It has different sector platforms on economy, energy, and issues, security. Lately, it was now C5+1 on minerals, rare earth minerals.
Again, there was an idea to work on the business component of it. It started with the United States Chamber of Commerce, and then it transformed itself into B5+1, a number of meetings of which were held in Astana.
From that moment on, the whole mechanism became more focused on the economy, trade and investment, connectivity, regional cooperation, AI development, and minerals. Now it has quite an extensive area of contacts and discussions.
What's interesting is that it started at the ministerial level. In 2025, it transformed into a summit meeting. It was in New York. President Trump invited all five Central Asian heads of state to the White House.
It was the first time this had been done at the White House. What's interesting, if we talk about Kazakhstan in particular, 29 agreements worth $17 billion were signed. Again, it shows that this mechanism is no longer at a nascent stage.
It's at a very active stage. Yes, now it's grown into a full-fledged mechanism of bilateral and regional cooperation with the countries of Central Asia. It's a thriving mechanism.
- Given the current geopolitical tensions and rising global conflicts, what challenges could these developments pose to the C5+ format and Central Asia’s efforts to strengthen dialogue and cooperation with its global partners?
- For me, one important thing I wanted to mention is that none of the other mechanisms we've created, like the US-Kazakhstan relationship over more than 17 years, stood the test of time.
The only one which is working and thriving today is the C5+1. We started during the Obama administration, and all the subsequent administrations supported it. Today, it has reached a much higher level. Of course, geopolitics plays its own role.
We understand that you cannot live in isolation from international issues. But it doesn't mean that we must be jeopardized by all those developments, because in the relationship between Central Asia and the US, we try to work on a positive agenda. Today, Central Asia is a region of stability and development.
So many issues are being resolved through the Coordination Council meetings among the heads of state. And it's a new development for Central Asia. Today, we are working in a very close, cooperative manner.
Of course, I gave you the figures. In general, the US presence in Kazakhstan is quite substantial. More than 600 US companies work in Kazakhstan. US investments today exceed $100 billion. Trade has also doubled in recent years, reaching $5 billion, which shows that we have so many positive things to work on. AI and digitalization, for example, are new trends in the world.
Of course, we discuss issues of stability. This is very important. It's a key issue. We're talking about threats and challenges which could pose a threat to Kazakhstan or Central Asia. Afghanistan is in a difficult situation, and we must take care of it as well. But in general, we try to discuss practical ways to cooperate to avoid and overcome those challenges through cooperation.
I think that, of course, there are some challenges and some issues. But in our discussions, we're mostly focusing today on the development agenda, regional integration, regional coordination, and connectivity.
And this is very much reflected here at the UN. At the UN, countries increasingly look at Central Asia as a united region, which is becoming a close unit, so to say. They see the countries as united in their initiatives, in what they propose, and in their willingness to build peace.
Because without peace, it's very difficult to talk about development. And if you don't work on development, you probably cannot have peace. So, these are two very interconnected things. We try to work not in a fragmented way, but with an understanding that there is a nexus between peace and security and sustainable development.
- How do you see the future of the C5+ format, particularly in light of rapid advances in digitalization and artificial intelligence? How might the mechanism evolve to address emerging opportunities and challenges?
- It's already a working mechanism. As I've said, it's digitalized. It has its own agenda, and it's working actively on the mutually beneficial issues for Central Asia and the United States. So, I see the future as the possibility through this mechanism to have a close collaboration among business circles, on economy, on artificial intelligence, on regional connectivity, which are very important for Central Asia.
That shows that this mechanism has quite a good future, because there's a lot of willingness to work, and there are some other countries, I know, that would like to have the same mechanism to work with Central Asian countries. So, it's a very promising future.
And, of course, during that time, it was not only this mechanism. For example, looking back, it was quite an interesting time for me because, during that time, we signed the agreement on a 10-year reciprocal visa regime with the United States.
There were many interesting developments during that time, and I would say it was good for Kazakhstan to start this kind of initiative, to work cooperatively with other Central Asian countries and our American colleagues on this idea. It's transforming itself, expanding, and making a lot of good starts and developments.
So, in general, to my mind, if we continue in the same way, the future is limitless. You know, there's B5+1 and the dialogue on minerals, the latest one, and I think that with every passing year, more areas are being added that could be of mutual benefit to all of us. We also have various other mechanisms, and all those mechanisms are working for the well-being of the peoples of Central Asia.
Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported on an interview with UN Resident Coordinator in Kazakhstan Sarangoo Radnaaragchaa, which focused on civil society's role in advancing the Sustainable Development Goals, Kazakhstan's progress towards the SDGs, and cooperation between the United Nations and non-governmental organizations.