Marco Rubio pushes US trade ties with Central Asia in Uzbekistan

Marco Rubio met Central Asian counterparts in Samarkand to advance trade and security ties. The outreach signals renewed US interest in a region strategically placed between Russia and China.Image used for representational purposes onlyTashkent,Oct 19, 2026 14:40 ISTUS Secretary of State Marco Rubio was in Uzbekistan on Monday to promote trade and strengthen ties with Central Asia, Press Trust of India reported. His visit comes amid criticism that Washington's top diplomat is focusing on politically safer engagements while paying less attention to pressing foreign policy challenges.The trip, which includes a visit to India later this week, is aimed at expanding US economic and security ties with Central and South Asia. However, it has limited links to the Trump administration's main foreign policy challenges in the Middle East and the Russia-Ukraine war.Rubio has dismissed suggestions that he is avoiding difficult issues in favour of diplomatic initiatives carrying a lower risk of failure or political damage. The US State Department has also rejected criticism of his schedule.In Samarkand, Rubio was meeting his counterparts from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan under the C5+1 diplomatic forum. The platform brings together the five Central Asian countries and the US to discuss security, trade and other shared concerns. “The United States wants to be a strong partner in Central Asia,” Rubio told reporters before the meeting, according to Press Trust of India.“Central Asia has just not gotten the level of attention from our policymakers over the last 20 years that it deserves. But that's changing. That's why we're here now,” he said. Despite repeated assurances by successive US administrations that Washington would become more involved in Central Asia, the region has often remained a low foreign policy priority.After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the newly independent Central Asian countries saw a brief rise in US interest. That attention declined before increasing again after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the US, which brought Afghanistan and its neighbours back into focus.The US established a military presence in several countries, mainly to use them as transit points for equipment and supplies needed by American and allied forces fighting the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.As the US ended its 20-year operation in Afghanistan, the Trump administration, during both its first and second terms, sought closer ties with Central Asia. The region's location between Russia and China, along with its potential for US business, drove this effort.Rubio's visit has been strongly promoted by Sergio Gor, the US ambassador to India and special presidential envoy for Central Asia. It is among Washington's most ambitious efforts in decades to strengthen economic and commercial ties with the region.Rubio told reporters in Samarkand that an “incredible delegation” representing almost 300 American businesses had joined the visit, Press Trust of India reported.“Historically, Central Asia has been the crossroads for trade between the West and the East. And today, as part of a broader renaissance and global engagement, it stands once again to play that vital role in transnational commerce,” he told officials at the meeting.Rubio said the region was “a new location for investment” and exports, as well as “a central terminal out of which materials that are vital for the future of all nations are being delivered”.US President Donald Trump hosted the Central Asian leaders at a White House summit last November and announced commercial deals worth more than $130 billion. These included agreements for regional airlines to buy Boeing aircraft.The Trump administration has also encouraged the Muslim-majority countries to join the Abraham Accords, which expanded the number of Arab states maintaining diplomatic ties with Israel. Kazakhstan, which had already recognised Israel, is the only one of the five Central Asian countries to have signed the accords.Rubio's visit is focused on expanding US trade, investment and security ties with Central Asia, while his wider trip will also take him to India later this week.With PTI Inputs- Ends