Uzbekistan has no intentions of deploying US troops in its territory: Foreign Minister

Amid speculation of Washington to send US troops to Uzbekistan, its Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov dismissed the reports and said there was no need to deploy the American troops in Tashkent, Sputnik reported on Friday. According to the reports, Kamilov's statement came during a press conference in the national capital, Tashkent. "Uzbekistan believes there is no need to deploy the United States military in the country. Today the reality is that there is no need for this," Kamilov said while addressing a press conference and added that, "Washington knows about it very precisely."

Notably, the comments from the Uzbek Foreign Minister came in response to media reports that stated that the United States would send defence officials to Uzbekistan. Earlier in the second week of October, Politico-- a political journalism company based in Arlington County-- reported that the United States would send officials to explore the possibility of housing counterterrorist forces in the Central Asian country to monitor the threats emanating from Afghanistan. According to the Minister, the limits of the Tashkent-Washington interaction are determined in the agreements between Uzbekistan and the US.

"And during many annual political consultations, during many serious meetings, the Americans were informed, and they practically all understand this and admit that the things you are talking about are absolutely unacceptable for Uzbekistan and they are practically not raised or discussed," Sputnik reported Kamilov as saying during the press conference on Friday. 

Top US Defense officials are in touch with Russia to use military bases 

According to Politico, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley, during a classified briefing held earlier in September, said that the Biden administration was in touch with the Russian government regarding the use of their military bases in Central Asia to conduct counterterrorism missions against targets in Afghanistan. It is worth mentioning that the Central Command (CENTCOM) chief Kenneth McKenzie, during the first congressional testimony on the tumultuous withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, showed full confidence in handling any operation against the Taliban, despite not having any base and soldiers on the ground. Further, McKenzie told US Central Command that American does not maintain any agreement with the neighbouring countries, still Washington can conduct missions using its distant bases in the region. 

(With inputs from ANI)

(Image: ANI/AP)