Blinken holds talks with Tokayev in Kazakhstan

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday held talks with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in Astana.At their meeting, both Blinken and Tokayev talked up relations between the US and Kazakhstan.

Later on Tuesday, Blinken is scheduled to attend a meeting of the so-called C5+1 group, made up of the US and the former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

At that meeting, he will stress the US' “commitment to the independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Central Asian countries," the State Department said in a statement.From Kazakhstan, Blinken is due to travel to Tashkent for talks with Uzbekistan officials, and then on to India for a meeting of the Group of 20 foreign ministers.