US president holds summit with Central Asian leaders in New York

NEW YORK

US President Joe Biden met Tuesday with the leaders of the Central Asian countries in the C5+1 dialogue format at UN headquarters in New York.

The leaders in attendance included Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Kyrgyzstan’s President Sadyr Japarov, Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rahmon, Turkmenistan's President Serdar Berdimuhamedow and Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

The summit marked the first-ever C5+1 presidential gathering and occurred on the sidelines of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly.

"I think this is a historic moment. We’re building on years of close cooperation between Central Asia and the United States, a cooperation that is grounded in our shared commitment to sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity," said Biden on the meeting.

Noting that the US has taken cooperation to new heights, Biden said they aim to strengthen their cooperation in a number of areas such as US security financing for the region, the fight against terrorism, economy, energy security, strengthening supply chains and disability rights.

"I want to thank you all for your fruitful conversation today…and I look forward to working with all of you to do even more in the future," Biden added.

The summit underscores Washington's growing interest in Central Asian countries.