Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the governments of (a) Tajikistan, (b) Uzbekistan and (c) Turkmenistan.

The Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs spoke to the former Uzbek Foreign Minister on 1 December at the OSCE Ministerial Council meeting in Poland. He also met briefly with the Tajik Foreign Minister at the same event, but has not recently met ministers from Turkmenistan. Lord Ahmad met the Turkmen Foreign Minister last year. We regularly engage with our partners in Central Asia to support reform, encourage trade, and to build a secure and stable region.