Paul
Goble
Staunton, December 22 – The governments
of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have reached an agreement to introduce a common
visa for foreigners who want to visit or work in either, a development that officials
in the region hope will expand to other Central Asian states and that they see
as an analogue to the Shengen visa in Europe fergananews.com/news/30331).
Ulugbek Kasymkhodzhayev, the deputy chairman
of Uzbekistan’s state tourism agency, says that the system ought to begin to
work in February. “The Silk Visa
project,” he says, has been agreed by all the relevant agencies of the two
countries and only “technical details” remain to be worked out (inform.kz/ru/central-noaziatskiy-variant-shengena-zarabotaet-v-sleduyuschem-godu_a3479606).
Kyrgyzstan
and Tajikistan have already expressed an interest in joining the group, he adds,
noting that Tashkent plans to seek the inclusion of Azerbaijan and Turkey as
well. At one level, of course, this is simply the result of Uzbekistan’s drive
to expand its foreign contacts after the passing of Islam Karimov.
But
on another, it promises to become the basis for more serious changes, including
the expansion of contacts on the basis of the Silk Road project, the promotion
of Central Asian cooperation and pan-Turkic ideas, and the further demise of the
former Soviet space by the creation of yet another alternative grouping within
it.
As
such, it is no small thing, however minor it may appear at first glance.
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