Central Asians to Discuss Water at CIS Summit

On October 10, the Commonwealth of Independent States, CIS, holds a summit in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek. In parallel, the CIS’s economic structure, the Eurasian Economic Community or EurAsEC, will also hold a meeting there.



The CIS consists of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine, while EurAsEC is a narrower grouping comprising the Russians and Belarusians and, in Central Asia, the Kazaks, Kyrgyz, Tajiks and Uzbeks.



The two forums will discuss water and energy issues, Georgia’s plans to leave the CIS, and the related issue of Moscow’s recognition of an independent South Ossetia.



The summit is expected to approve a strategy for the economic development of CIS members until the year 2020.



NBCentralAsia experts say the summit is likely to be problematic for Uzbekistan’s president Islam Karimov, whose country is still holding off on signing a regional agreement the use of water from the Syr Darya and Amu Darya rivers. All other regional states which use the rivers have reached agreement on the document, which would require downstream countries to pay the two upstream countries, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, for water.



Central Asia’s water resources are created in the mountains of these two countries, which use the water to generate hydroelectricity and incur costs for storing it in reservoirs. Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakstan have a different need for the water – they need it for irrigation.



Assuming Karimov attends the meeting, other members will find it hard to persuade him of the need for payment, as he is generally an unwilling participant in attempts to build greater regional integration.



However, Uzbek political analyst Tashpulat Yoldashev predicts, “The Kremlin will force Tashkent to sign the water agreement because of Russia’s desire to invest in Central Asia energy projects, for which coordinated policies are needed.”