Uzbekistan: Did Gen. Petraeus Secure an Afghan Transit Agreement with Tashkent?

The chief of US Central Command, Gen. David Petraeus, has wrapped up a visit to Uzbekistan. Sources indicate that the discussions went well, and that the United States may have secured Tashkent's permission to begin rail shipments of non-lethal supplies via Central Asia to Afghanistan.

During the visit, Gen. David Petraeus met with President Islam Karimov, Foreign Minister Vladimir Norov, and Defense Minister Kabul Berdiyev. US officials remained tight-lipped about the substance and the results of the talks.

A spokeswoman for the US Embassy in Tashkent told EurasiaNet on February 17, "David Petraeus was here to consider the issues of regional security and consider different approaches necessary to solve those problems. They discussed a wide range of issues including regional security and the reconstruction of Afghanistan."

An Uzbek government source, meanwhile, told the Russian news agency RIA Novosti that Petraeus was pushing for the "transit of non-military goods" across Uzbekistan to Afghanistan. A source in Tashkent indicated to EurasiaNet that a transit agreement seemed imminent, if it had not already been agreed upon.

In early February, the Kyrgyz government announced its intention to close the Manas airbase near Bishkek, which has been ferrying troops and goods to Afghanistan since 2001. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. Pentagon officials maintain the possible closure of their only base in Central Asia outside of Afghanistan would not significantly hinder efforts to establish a second supply corridor to take the pressure off the sole existing conduit to Afghanistan via the violence-prone Khyber Pass in Pakistan.

The United States has already negotiated permission to transport non-military goods through Russia and Kazakhstan, and securing Uzbek cooperation was seen as critical to the Central Asian supply initiative. [For background see the Eurasia insight archive].

Separately, the Kyrgyz Committee on Foreign Affairs approved on February 17 the bill of closure for Manas airbase. The chairman of the committee, Erik Arsaliev, said the bill will go before parliament for a final vote on February 19. If approved, the US and it allies have just six months to leave the facility.