Kazakhstan: Parliament Ratifies Strategic Cooperation Pact with United States

Kazakhstan's parliament on November 5 endorsed two measures with potentially important ramifications for US-Kazakhstani strategic cooperation, especially on matters relating to the ongoing Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan.

Under terms outlined in the measures, Kazakhstan is set to ease overflight requirements for US and NATO aircraft involved in re-supply missions to Afghanistan. The agreement also creates the possibility that Kazakhstan would facilitate an overland supply route connecting the Caspian Basin to Afghanistan.

According to a report posted on the Gazeta.kz website, the measures just approved by parliament were originally negotiated in late 2001 and mid-2002, during the immediate aftermath of the September 11 terrorism tragedy in the United States. Officials did not offer an explanation as to why ratification took so long. Circumstantial evidence suggests that the significant decay in Afghanistan's security situation over the past year played a major role in spurring Kazakhstani legislators into action. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].