THIS WEEK'S meeting between President Hosni Mubarak and visiting Tajik counterpart Emomali Rahmonov served as yet another top-level diplomatic endeavour on the part of Egypt to strengthen relations with Central Asian states. Held at the Heliopolis presidential headquarters Monday, the Egyptian-Tajik presidential meeting dedicated careful attention to venues of economic and cultural cooperation. The meeting was attended by cabinet ministers on both sides and concluded in the signing of a memorandum of understanding to boost relations between Cairo and Dushanbe. Egypt has been eyeing the independent former Soviet Central Asian states for economic and scientific cooperation. Late last year, President Mubarak paid a visit to Kazakhstan, before receiving the Kazakh head of state in Egypt only weeks later. Increasingly inter-woven political developments in the Middle East and Central Asia have also been subject to consultation between Egypt and both Tajikstan and Kazakhstan.
