C5+1 at Ten: Central Asia Turns Dialogue Into Strategic Partnership

The United States and the five Central Asian countries marked the tenth anniversary of the C5+1 format at a ministerial meeting in Samarkand on October 19, 2026. The platform was established in 2015 in Samarkand, when the foreign ministers of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan met U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.

A C5+1 Secretariat was set up in 2022. In September 2023, then-U.S. President Joe Biden hosted the first-ever C5+1 presidential summit on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. A November 2025 summit in Washington, hosted by President Donald Trump, generated more than $25 billion in commercial deals and commitments, according to U.S. officials.

In Samarkand, Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed economic cooperation, connectivity, energy, critical minerals and security with the foreign ministers. Priorities included the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, known as the Middle Corridor. For Kazakhstan, the agenda supports a multivector foreign policy aimed at expanding economic opportunities.