DUSHANBE, March 11, 2014, Asia-Plus – An article by former US Congressman Dan Burton, which is entitled “Tajikistan’s Clean Energy Resources,” notes that Tajikistan’s vast water and energy resources are capable of providing for not just its own energy needs, but those of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan and many other countries in the region.

Posted on The Washington Time’s website on March 7, the article notes that Mr. Burton first visited Tajikistan in 2012, during the final year of his tenure in Congress, “as part of a rare U.S. congressional delegation to the country.”

“That such a visit was so rare is symptomatic of America’s attitude toward the region, as is the fact that no sitting president has ever visited Tajikistan.

“You could scarcely find a country situated in a more strategically critical location for U.S. foreign policy than Tajikistan — sharing an 810-mile border with Afghanistan and a 260-mile border with China.

“Tajikistan’s great potential, however, lies not in its whereabouts, but in its water.

“In an age where clean energy is the most desired path to development, Tajikistan has been blessed with abundant hydroelectric potential, capable of providing for not just its own energy needs, but those of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan and many other countries in the region.

“One project alone, the Roghun Dam, will provide almost twice the energy output of our own Hoover Dam — filling a much-needed void in supply to Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

“As the United States prepares to withdraw its troops in 2014, a cheap, plentiful supply of energy to energy-starved Afghanistan would do wonders for its development and, consequently, its stability. It could also end Tajikistan’s own energy crisis, which leaves up to 70 percent of the country without electricity during the winter months, when temperatures are consistently below freezing.

“With the right political and economic support, during the next decade Tajik hydropower could serve the entire region of South and Central Asia with cheap, sustainable energy.

“This is an agenda that should be embraced.”

Former Rep. Dan Burton, Indiana Republican, was a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and chairman of its Europe, Eurasia and emerging threats subcommittee.