Ambassador Talks: "Cooperation between Kyrgyzstan, South Asian and the Gulf Countries"

March 14, 2024

On March 6, AUCA, the Faculty of International and Comparative Politics, hosted another lecture as part of the Ambassador Talks series. The lecture featured Maksat Tentimishov, former director of the 4th Political Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic. The main topic of discussion was "Cooperation between Kyrgyzstan, South Asian, and Gulf countries."

The President of AUCA, Dr. Timothy Edward O'Connor, welcomed all those present at the lecture and introduced Maksat Tentimishov.

Maksat Tentimishov served as the director of the 4th Political Department (countries of South Asia, the Middle East, and Africa) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic from 2022 to 2024. He has also served as a special envoy to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic, Consul General of the Kyrgyz Republic in Guangzhou, and Director of the Department of State Protocol at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic.

Mr. Maksat began his presentation with a historical note on the relationship between Kyrgyzstan and the Arab Caliphate, touching on the Battle of Talas River between the Tang Dynasty and the Arab Caliphate. He discussed how ties with Gulf countries were lost during the past century and gradually restored after gaining independence in 1991. Mr. Maksat elaborated on each Gulf country (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Palestine, Egypt) and its bilateral relations with the Kyrgyz Republic, noting the years of embassy and consulate openings in the country and the years of visits by the heads of Arab states to Kyrgyzstan. Additionally, Mr. Tentimishov spoke about trade volumes, areas of cooperation with each country, projects that have been implemented, and future cooperation plans with Gulf countries, including in the tourism sector. He also discussed the meeting between Central Asian foreign ministers and the Gulf Cooperation Council (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Oman) in September 2022, where cooperation in areas such as energy, transportation security, food, culture, science, and sports was discussed.

In the second part of his presentation, Mr. Maksat focused on Southeast Asian countries, specifically India and Pakistan, and also spoke about bilateral relations with Iran. This section of the presentation also covered aspects of cooperation, visits by heads of state and their ministers, joint projects and organizations, and trade volumes. At the end of his presentation, Mr. Maksat allowed students to ask questions regarding his activities, current events in the world, and the region.

<< go to news list