BISHKEK (TCA) — India can work closely with the US and Afghanistan in providing security in the war-torn country and supporting wider stability in the region, the US Senate Armed Services Committee says, but Indian experts rule out any direct military involvement of India in Afghanistan, Russia’s Sputnik news agency reports.

ASTANA (TCA) — A delegation of JSC KTZ Express, a subsidiary of Kazakhstan’s national railways company Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ), took part in the second Global Forum "Future China Global Forum 2017" in Singapore.

TASHKENT (TCA) — The Embassy of Uzbekistan in the UK recently held an annual summer reception to present the country’s cultural, gastronomic and tourist potential to British travel companies and the media, the Jahon information agency reported.

DUSHANBE (TCA) — Human Rights Watch and the Norwegian Helsinki Committee say that Tajikistan authorities have detained, interrogated, and threatened relatives of 10 peaceful opposition activists who attended a July 9 conference in Germany, RFE/RL reported.

BISHKEK (TCA) — A new programme for youth and children to build social cohesion and prevent violence was announced on July 18 in Bishkek by the Government of Kyrgyzstan, the UK’s Department for International Development and UNICEF.

BISHKEK (TCA) — Major foreign investments have so far come to Kyrgyzstan due to geopolitical rather than economic reasons (with the Canadian investment in the Kumtor gold field being perhaps the only exception). The investment of Russia in Kyrgyzstan’s Naryn hydropower plants cascade, too, was dictated by the Kremlin’s political goals in the region. Now, as Russia has abandoned the project over cashflow problems, this major hydropower project has been taken up by a little-known Czech company, which has found itself in the focus of a scandal in Kyrgyzstan. We are republishing this article by Nurjamal Djanibekova on the issue, originally published by EurasiaNet.org:

TASHKENT (TCA) — The Central Bank of Uzbekistan has issued a license for banking operations to the country's youngest credit and financial institution, UzAgroExportBank, the Jahon information agency reported.

ASTANA (TCA) — Kazakhstan's GDP grew by 4.2 percent in the first half of 2017, Minister of National Economy Timur Suleimenov said at the meeting of the Kazakh Government on July 18 which reviewed the results of the country's social and economic development for the first half of the year, the official website of the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan reported.

DUSHANBE (TCA) — One of the daughters of Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon has been appointed a deputy head of the country’s largest commercial bank, Orienbank, RFE/RL's Tajik Service reported.

BISHKEK (TCA) — A court in Kyrgyzstan has sentenced ex-President Askar Akayev's former son-in-law to 20 years in prison in absentia, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reported.

BISHKEK (TCA) — On July 18, an official ceremony was held to inaugurate a cultural center that will benefit over 3,500 residents of Ottuk and Kara-Shaar villages of Ulahol Aiyl Aymak in Kyrgyzstan. Leisure and recreation services provided by the cultural center have been improved with the financial support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. The ceremony was attended by residents, representatives of the Ulahol municipality and local council, the Embassy of Switzerland to the Kyrgyz Republic, as well as the implementing organizations Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation and the Development Policy Institute.

TASHKENT (TCA) — On July 17, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan Abdulaziz Kamilov, in Brussels, attended a meeting of Uzbekistan-European Union Cooperation Council and met with Stefano Manservisi, Director General of the European Commission's Directorate General for International Cooperation and Development (DEVCO), and Helga Schmid, the Secretary General of European External Action Service (EEAS), Uzbekistan’s official Jahon information agency reported.

KABUL (TCA) — Civilians lives – including those of women and children – continue to be lost at record high levels amid a worsening toll of suicide attacks, the United Nations mission in Afghanistan said on July 17, calling on anti-government forces to stop indiscriminate attacks against civilians as well as on the Government to stop using mortars and rockets in populated areas, the UN News Centre reported.

BISHKEK (TCA) — Turkey has barred the entrance of thousands of people from the former Soviet Union, including from Kazakhstan and Tajikistan, whom it suspects of having ties to Islamic State (IS) in Syria and Iraq, RFE/RL reports.

ASTANA (TCA) — Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan Kairat Abdrakhmanov took part in the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, a post-Soviet security bloc including Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan, the Kazakh Foreign Ministry reported on July 17.

TASHKENT (TCA) — The European Union and Uzbekistan are to hold the highest-level political meeting since the death of longtime Uzbek President Islam Karimov in 2016, RFE/RL reports.

TEHRAN (TCA) — As Tajikistan and Iran are experiencing political tensions after the Tajik government has restricted the activities of Iranian companies and forced some organizations related to Iran to shut down in Tajikistan, Iran’s foreign ministry said that the Islamic Republic’s issues with Tajikistan can be settled at the negotiating table, Iran’s IFP News agency reported on July 17.

TASHKENT (TCA) — The event will take place in a new, two-stage format. On September 6-8, Tashkent will host the second International Fruit and Vegetable Fair, and territorial fruit and vegetable fairs will be held later, in November, in Nukus and in all regional centers of Uzbekistan, for the formation of a portfolio of orders for the next year and medium term, the Jahon information agency reported.

ASHGABAT (TCA) — A trilateral meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, and Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov will take place in Turkmenistan before the end of this year, Turkish Ambassador to Turkmenistan Mustafa Kapucu said, Russia’s Sputnik news agency reported.

BISHKEK (TCA) — The government of Urumqi, the main city of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) in northwestern China, financed the installation of telemedicine equipment for 15 health care organizations in Kyrgyzstan, Xinhua reported on July 14 with reference to the press service of the Kyrgyz Ministry of Health.

BISHKEK (TCA) — The pro-presidential Social Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan (SDPK) has named the country’s Prime Minister Sooronbai Jeenbekov the party’s single candidate for the presidential election due to be held on October 15, Kyrgyz media reported.

BISHKEK (TCA) — The State Committee for Industry, Energy and Subsoil Use of Kyrgyzstan and the American corporation General Electric have signed an agreement on mutual understanding to cooperate on projects related to the development of an efficient, sustainable and competitive industrial infrastructure of the Kyrgyz Republic using GE advanced technologies and solutions.

BISHKEK (TCA) — The Publisher’s note: Central Asia is an important geopolitical area between Europe, Russia and China. It is in Central Asia that world powers have confronted each other for centuries; it is here that China needs to succeed with its new Silk Road Belt for direct access to the Western markets; and it is here that a large wealth of raw materials has its origin. Every week thousands of news appears all over the world in printed and online media and it is quite understandable that many of them may escape the attention of busy readers. At The Times of Central Asia, we strongly believe that more information can better contribute to peaceful development and better knowledge of the region, and for this reason we are presenting this Weekly Digest of Central Asia which compiles what other media have reported during the past week.

KABUL (TCA) — The fourth conference of Afghanistan-Central Asia dialogue is taking place in Afghanistan’s Bamiyan province on July 14 and 15 with the participation of high ranking Central Asian and Afghan officials including Afghanistan’s Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, TOLOnews agency reported.

BISHKEK (TCA) — Unabated climate change would bring devastating consequences to countries in Asia and the Pacific, including Central Asia, which could severely affect their future growth, reverse current development gains, and degrade quality of life, according to a report produced by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), ADB said on July 14.