Uzbek President Islam Karimov has discussed gas pipelines to China, allocation of water in Central Asia, and the situation in Afghanistan during a meeting with Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov in Ashgabat.
Uzbek and Turkmen media reported on October 25 about the meeting the previous evening at which the two presidents discussed the four branches of a gas pipeline leading from Turkmen gas fields and transiting Uzbekistan on route to China.
Turkmen media reported President Berdymukhammedov backed rational use of water in Central Asia "based on respect for each other's interests."
Karimov is a fierce opponent of plans in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to build large hydropower plants that the Uzbek president fears will deprive agricultural lands in Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, of needed water.
Berdymukhammedov also said his country and Uzbekistan "wish to see Afghanistan as a prospering country and a reliable partner."
