Secretary of State John Kerry’s Meeting With President Karimov

State Department officials said Kerry’s remarks at Nazarbayev University reflect the message he is delivering privately to the leaders of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.

Kerry was in Samarkand to meet his five Central Asian counterparts and reassure them of continued United States engagement in the strategic region. They are among the foreign fighters who have joined the Islamic State group.

The official acknowledged that the US continues to see “problematic behavior” in all five Central Asian countries, but said it had also seen a few progress as a result of its pressure, including steps to ban child labor in Uzbekistan and the release of imprisoned Jehovah’s Witnesses in Turkmenistan. He has earned further favor with the Obama administration by establishing a nuclear weapons-free zone in Central Asia and advocating further nuclear arms reductions around the world.

The human rights situation in Tajikistan has been deteriorating for the past two years, according to Human Rights Watch. Kazakhstan was the butt of a caricature by the fictional film character Borat, a portrayal many Kazakhs resent.

He thanked Berdymukhamedov for setting an agenda that included issues of “economic cooperation, human rights, security and stability” as the two greeted each other warmly.

Negotiations between the US Secretary of State and the Foreign Minister Kazakhstan, Yerlan Idrisov, are taking place behind closed doors, TASS reports.

The US champions democracy, he said, because “it does a better job, I think, than any other form of government in respecting the rights of individuals”.

President Islam Karimov, the 77-year-old autocrat who has ruled Uzbekistan for a quarter-century since independence, hosted Kerry at his sprawling palace complex.

Kerry’s trip was brief, with only one event: A meeting with President Gurbanguli Berdymukhamedov.

The trip to all five of Central Asia’s ex-Soviet republics was meant to show that the United States intends to stay engaged and wants to deepen economic as well as security ties. Kerry is seeking to persuade governments that Washington’s interest in the region, which lies to the north of Afghanistan, is not waning.

The foreign ministers agreed to “enhance a favorable business climate in the region to attract foreign direct investment and facilitate local entrepreneurship and broaden and strengthen business and investment contacts among the Central Asian countries and the United States”.

The Washington Post’s diplomatic correspondent, Carol Morello, attempted to ask a question about human rights-calling out from the side of the room where Kerry and the USA delegation appeared to be concluding its meeting with the Uzbeks.

A few USA officials have expressed concern that Nazarbayev is too close to Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, but say they also understand the pressures Nazarbayev faces in dealing with his giant northern neighbor.