CHOLPON-ATA /Kyrgyzstan/, July 21. /TASS/. Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev proposed to approve a concept of interaction between Central Asian states within the framework of multilateral formats at the Fourth Consultative Meeting of the Heads of State of Central Asia in Cholpon-Ata on Thursday.
"As for cooperation with extraregional strategic partners, Kazakhstan thinks it possible to approve a concept of interaction of the Central Asian states within the framework of multilateral formats. In my opinion, we shouldn’t get locked in fixed geographical boundaries. The high representatives of other neighboring states, for example, Russia and China, could also participate as invited guests in the consultative meetings of the Central Asian leaders," he said.
According to the Kazakh leader, the bolstering of interaction in the sphere of security and diplomacy remains the key issue on the agenda. "The Central Asian region should become an expansive zone of stable socio-economic development, comprehensive cooperation, peace and prosperity. In order to jointly develop solutions on preventing security threats it would be reasonable to launch a mechanism of regular consultations between the secretaries of Security Councils," he noted.