Foreign relations of Kazakhstan
Overview of the foreign relations of Kazakhstan / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Foreign relations of Kazakhstan are primarily based on economic and political security consideration. The Nazarbayev administration has tried to balance relations with Russia and the United States by sending petroleum and natural gas to its northern neighbor at artificially low prices while assisting the U.S. in the War on Terror. Kazakhstan is a member of the United Nations, Collective Security Treaty Organization, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (which it chaired in 2010), North Atlantic Cooperation Council, Commonwealth of Independent States, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, and NATO's Partnership for Peace program. Kazakhstan established a customs union with Russia and Belarus which eventually became the Eurasian Economic Union. President Nazarbayev has prioritized economic diplomacy into Kazakhstan's foreign policy.[1]
Kazakhstan has a "multi-vector" foreign policy, i.e. a triangulation between Russia, China and the West (E.U. and the U.S.).[2] Kazakhstan has called for “intra-regional integration in Central Asia” and international integration of the region.[3]
In December 2010, Kazakhstan held its first OSCE summit since 1999.[4]
In 2015 Kazakhstan joined the Inter-American Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters. In September the Kazakh Senate ratified the Convention, which unites 26 countries, including the United States, South Korea, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Venezuela and other countries.[5]
Kazakhstan's main foreign policy efforts are focused on achieving the following goals:[6]
- Measures that will ensure national security, defense capacity, sovereignty and territorial unity of the country;
- Strengthening peace through regional and global security;
- Sustainable international position and positive global image of Kazakhstan;
- Establishment of fair and democratic world order under the guiding and coordinating role of the United Nations Organization (UN);
- Further integration into the system of regional and international trade-economic relations;
- Creation of favorable external conditions for the successful implementation of the Strategy 2050; providing high living standards for the population; strengthening unity of the multi-national society; reinforcing rule of law and democratic institutions; protection of human rights and freedoms;
- Diversification, industrial-technological development and increased competitiveness of the national economy;
- Focusing the country onto the green development path and bringing it to the list of the 30 top-developed nations of the world;
- Saving the national-cultural uniqueness and following the own original way of the state development;
- Protection of the rights of personal, family and business interests of citizens and legal entities of the Republic of Kazakhstan;
- Support to Kazakh diaspora and Kazakh language nationally
The Foreign Ministry of Kazakhstan assumed the new function of attracting investments to Kazakhstan in December 2018. As part of the new responsibilities, the Ministry oversees activities in attracting foreign investment and promoting Kazakh exports abroad, taking away these responsibilities from the reformed Ministry for Investment and Development.[7] Two main objectives of Kazakhstan's economic diplomacy include comprehensive support of Kazakh business abroad and promotion of non-resource export.[8] These objectives are set to help achieve the goals of diversifying the economy, creating new jobs, promoting innovative technologies and attracting foreign investors.
As part of economic diplomacy, Kazakhstan compiled a list of 40 countries its Foreign Ministry is to target in a bid to attract more foreign investment.[9] Coordinated by the Foreign Ministry, Kazakhstan's diplomatic missions also address issues of strategic interest to Kazakhstan's business community in their receiving states.
Not until 2005 did Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan agree to begin demarcating their shared borders. No seabed boundary with Turkmenistan in the Caspian Sea has been agreed on and the usage of Caspian Sea water is a matter that remains unsettled by international agreement.[10]
According to Bakhytzhan Sagintaev, first deputy prime minister, in 2015 Kazakhstan and China will sign an intergovernmental agreement on water allocation of the 24 transboundary rivers.[11]
When the Soviet Union collapsed in December 1991, Kazakhstan inherited 1,410 nuclear warheads and the Semipalatinsk nuclear-weapon test site. By April 1995, Kazakhstan had returned the warheads to Russia and, by July 2000, had destroyed the nuclear testing infrastructure at Semipalatinsk.[12]
On December 2, 2009, UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon and the Republic of Kazakhstan designated August 29 as International Day against Nuclear Tests, the anniversary of the date that Kazakhstan closed the Semipalatinsk test site in 1991.[13][14]
The contribution of Kazakhstan's President Nazarbayev to nuclear non-proliferation was highly recognized by Japan. During his visit to Japan in November 2016, Nursultan Nazarbayev was awarded the title of special honorary citizen of Hiroshima for his non-proliferation efforts.[15]
Illegal cannabis and, to a lesser extent, opium production in Kazakhstan is an international issue since much of the crop ends up being sold in other countries, particularly in other member-states of Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).[10] In 1998, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimated that a "minimum of 1,517 tons of cannabis was harvested" in Kazakhstan.[16]
With the fall of the Soviet Union, Kazakhstan became a major transit country for narcotics produced in Southwest Asia, primarily from Afghanistan.[16] In 2001, Kazakh authorities reported 1,320 cases of drug trafficking and seized 18 metric tons of narcotics. However, this is viewed as a fraction of the actual total volume trafficked and widespread corruption continues to hamper government anti-drug efforts; Transparency International gave Kazakhstan a score of 2.2, on a scale of 0–10 with 0 indicating a "highly corrupt" state.[16][17] Russia and other parts of Europe are the main markets for these drugs although drug use is growing in Kazakhstan as well.[10][16]
In November 2014 Kazakh Foreign Minister and Resident Representative of UNDP in Kazakhstan signed a project document supporting Kazakhstan's Foreign Affairs Ministry in forming KazAID, a system of Official Development Assistance (ODA).[18] KazAID is the first ODA programme among the Central Asian states.[19] The KazAID program implies technical assistance and humanitarian aid to Afghanistan. As of 2016, Kazakhstan provided Afghanistan with 20,000 tons of food products valued at some $20 million.[20]
Kazakhstan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs with assistance of the UNDP and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) leads ODA titled "Promoting Kazakhstan's ODA Cooperation with Afghanistan." The ODA is aimed at expanding economic independence and rights of Afghan women.[21] The project marks Kazakhstan's first international cooperation for Afghanistan in the framework of national system of ODA.[22]
As of 2017, Kazakhstan provided ODA worth approximately $450 million. Countries of Central Asia and Afghanistan are a priority for Kazakhstan's ODA.[19]