The Minister for the Armed Forces James Heappey visited
Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Mongolia this week to meet with
defence leaders and military chiefs, for talks to deepen security
and defence cooperation.
In Kazakhstan on Tuesday, he met with officials including Deputy
Foreign Minister Roman Vassilenko, Deputy Defence Minister
Lieutenant General Sultan Burkutbayevich Kamaletdinov and members
of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Security of the
Mazhilis of Parliament, to discuss future cooperation on
peacekeeping missions. The Minister also welcomed Kazakhstan’s
support for the sanctions regime against Russia in response to
the war against Ukraine.
For over 20 years, the UK has assisted Kazakhstan in building the
capability of the Peace Operations Centre (KAZCENT), helping to
enable Kazakh deployments on peace support operations such as the
UN missions in Côte d’Ivoire, Lebanon and Western Sahara. These
efforts have been underpinned by military English language
training delivered by the UK.
The minister then travelled to Uzbekistan on Wednesday, where he
held regional security talks with the Minister of Defence,
Lieutenant General Bakhodir Kurbanov, as well as the Commander of
the National Guard, General Rustam Jo’rayev, and Special
Representative of the President of Uzbekistan for Afghanistan
Ismatulla Irgashev. He also laid a wreath at the Victory Park in
Tashkent to pay tribute to Uzbek soldiers who lost their lives in
World War Two.
His visit concluded in Mongolia, where he became the first
British defence minister to visit the country. He met Defence
Minister Gürsediin Saikhanbayar and discussed cooperation on
peacekeeping missions. The UK and Mongolia have an especially
close relationship: our soldiers have served together in
Afghanistan and as peacekeepers in South Sudan, and 2023 marks
the 60th anniversary of the UK becoming the first Western country
to forge diplomatic relations with Mongolia.
Minister for the Armed Forces, Rt Hon , said:
My visits this week form part of the approach outlined in the
recent Defence Command Paper as we build our strategic
international partnerships across Asia, in the interests of
security and prosperity for everyone.
I’ve held productive discussions with defence ministers and
military leaders in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Mongolia, laying
the groundwork for future cooperation, especially on peacekeeping
operations.
As set out in the Integrated
Review Refresh 2023, the UK is committed to strengthening
engagement with Central Asia and Mongolia to boost their
prosperity, security and resistance to Russian interference.
