Japanese Prime Minister Acts as Agent of US-Uzbek Rapprochement

During closed-door discussions, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi reportedly told Uzbek President Islam Karimov that Tokyo was ready to help Tashkent restore relations with the United States. Uzbek authorities are giving serious consideration to pursuing a rapprochement with Washington.

Koizumi visited Tashkent on August 29 as part of a Central Asian tour aimed at widening Japanese access to the region's natural resources. Official accounts of the 90-minute meeting between the Japanese and Uzbek leaders said the two focused on energy-sector investment and trade possibilities. They also signed an educational exchange agreement. In comments broadcast on state television, Karimov said in the meeting provided "strong impetus to the development and deepening of our fruitful cooperation."

In a portion of the talks that was not publicized, Koizumi pressed Karimov to mend fences with the United States, according to a source inside the Uzbek Foreign Ministry. US-Uzbek relations have been in the deep freeze since the Andijan massacre in May 2005. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. Since then, Uzbekistan has concentrated on expanding security and political ties with Russia. But now Uzbek leaders appear to be reconsidering this approach.

"The Japanese offered to help us [improve relations] with America," said the Uzbek Foreign Ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity. "There have been negotiations about reviving our relations with the United States, and Uzbekistan is considering [this idea]."

The first sign of a possible US-Uzbek rapprochement came earlier in August, when Richard Boucher, the US assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asia, traveled to Tashkent, where he met with Karimov and Foreign Minister Vladimir Norov. It was the first visit to Uzbekistan by a top-level US diplomat in almost a year.

According to a report distributed by the State Department, Boucher conveyed Washington's eagerness to keep the channels of communications open with Tashkent. Although US influence in Uzbekistan has drastically declined since Andijan, Washington remains interested in working with Uzbek leaders on regional strategic issues, including the containment of Islamic radicalism and narcotics trafficking.

In the wake of the Andijan massacre, Uzbek authorities took action to stifle civil society development in the country. Independent media outlets were silenced, and foreign non-governmental organizations shut down. [For background see the Eurasia insight archive]. Even amid the rekindling of a US-Uzbek dialogue, Tashkent is continuing the crack down. On August 30, for instance, a Tashkent court issued a ruling that will effectively close down a US-based NGO called the Partnership in Academics and Development. Uzbek authorities accused members of the group, which officially promotes educational contacts between Uzbekistan and the West, of engaging in improper activities designed to convert Uzbeks to Christianity, according to news reports.

"We obviously have very strong differences about the events in Andijan and the human rights situation," Boucher said during an August 9 news conference in Tashkent. At the same time, he said he wanted to promote "actions that are needed to try and rebuild trust."

Boucher also appeared to try to interest Uzbek authorities in a US-backed plan to build an electricity grid that would bind Central and South Asian states. The scheme is seen in Washington as a way to reduce Russia's influence in Central Asia. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

Boucher declined to speculate on whether a US-Uzbek rapprochement could be achieved in the near future. "It will depend on what both sides actually do.