Roundup: U.S., Kazakh presidents meet on Afghanistan issue, bilateral ties

WASHINGTON, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump and his visiting Kazakh counterpart, Nursultan Nazarbayev, met on Tuesday to discuss Afghanistan and bilateral ties among other topics.

In the statements released by the White House, the two presidents vowed to seek a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Afghanistan, pledging to deepen cooperation against violent extremism and international terrorism.

They also issued commitments to addressing shared challenges in Central Asia through regional formats, such as the C5+1 dialogue among Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and the United States, and welcomed future Afghan participation in C5+1 projects.

Nazarbayev promised to continue to provide critical logistical support and access for Western troops fighting terrorism, adding that Kazakhstan has also provided Afghanistan humanitarian and technical support worth 75 million U.S dollars, and spent 50 million dollars training Afghan civilian specialists.

Last April, Trump announced his Afghanistan strategy, saying the United States, instead of withdrawing its troops from the war-torn nation, will increase its military presence there. At the end of 2017, the U.S. military personnel in Afghanistan has been increased to some 15,000.

As Kazakhstan holds the rotating presidency on the United Nations Security Council this month, the U.S. government said it will continue to discuss international challenges with Kazakhstan during its tenure.

Aside from cooperation on regional and international issues, the two countries are committed to promoting "an enhanced strategic partnership for the 21st century."

"In bilateral relations, I think economic relations play a key role. And in Kazakhstan, we have major American companies operating for many years," Nazarbayev told the press Tuesday.

Bilateral trade in goods grew to 1.9 billion dollars in 2016, said the U.S. Department of State, and both countries aim to further expand the economic ties.

"We also agree that fair and reciprocal ... trade benefits both of our countries," Trump said.

During the visit, Nazarbayev promised to sign with the United States 20 commercial contracts worth 7.5 billion dollars.

In civil aviation, for example, Kazakhstan ordered six Boeing 737 MAX 8 airplanes, making itself the first nation in Central Asia to own and operate the type of passenger planes.

Moreover, its national airline carrier Air Astana announced it would purchase three Boeing 787 Dreamliners, which are scheduled for delivery in 2021.

In railways, General Electric and Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ) railway company concluded two new strategic initiatives valued at over 900 million dollars, including manufacturing locomotives for KTZ, an expansion of the main rail facility in Astana and others.

The two nations also signed contracts on collaboration in areas such as digital infrastructure, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, education, finance, space exploration and healthcare.

Nazarbayev said that since Kazakhstan offers visa-free entry into the country for U.S. visitors, he expects "reciprocity" from the U.S. side. The two nations are also working on opening a direct flight between them.

During his visit, Nazarbayev also invited Trump to visit Kazakhstan. Enditem