DUSHANBE, October 29, 2015, Asia-Plus – Tajik Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Aslov will participate in a joint meeting of Central Asian foreign ministers with the U.S. top diplomat John Kerry that will take place in the Uzbek city of Samarkand on October 31.

This meeting is a new format for dialogue between the United States and the Central Asian republics known as the “C5+1.” The foreign ministers of all five Central Asia’s nations and Washington’s top diplomat will discuss regional and global opportunities and challenges.

Afghan foreign minister is also expected to participate in this meeting, a source in the Tajik government told Asia-Plus in an interview.  

We will recall that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry meets with the five Central Asian Foreign Ministers: Kazakhstan Foreign Minister Erlan Idrisov, Kyrgyzstan Foreign Minister Erlan Abdyldayev, Tajikistan Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Aslov, Turkmenistan Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov and Uzbekistan Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov, at the Palace Hotel, in New York City on September 26 on the sidelines of the 70th Regular Session of the UN General Assembly in New York, New York, on September 26, 2015.

They reportedly reviewed the security situation in Afghanistan and its impact on stability in Central Asia.  The meeting participants agreed to consider further discussions in the C5+1 format in the near future, to supplement existing bilateral dialogues