Washington, DC - Under Secretary of State Rose Gottemoeller welcomed Kazakhstani Deputy Foreign Minister Yerzhan Ashikbayev to the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., on March 8 for a working session of the Fourth U.S.-Kazakhstan Strategic Partnership Dialogue.

Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Nisha Biswal led the U.S. delegation for discussions on international and regional affairs, security cooperation, economic cooperation, human and labor rights, rule of law and governance, education cooperation, and other issues of mutual interest.  Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Tom Malinowski chaired the Committee on Human Dimension with Kazakhstan’s Deputy Minister of Justice Elvira Azimova.  Commerce Assistant Secretary for Global Markets Arun Kumar chaired the Committee on Economics with Kazakhstan’s Vice Minister of Investment and Development Rakhim Oshakbayev.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Foreign Minister Erlan Idrissov launched the Fourth Strategic Partnership Dialogue in Astana, Kazakhstan, in November 2015.

The Dialogue is a regularly planned policy consultation designed to advance our common agenda and opportunities for cooperation across the full range of bilateral and regional issues. 

The United States looks forward to broadening and deepening its relationship with Kazakhstan on the basis of these candid and constructive conversations.