July 14 of this year a meeting of Chairman of the Board of N. Nazarbayev Center for Development of Interfaith and Intercivilizational Dialogue Bulat Sarsenbayev with representatives of the Caspian Political Center of the United States, which studies economic, political, energy and security issues in the Caspian region, took place.
The purpose of the meeting is to assess the state of the response to COVID-19 and the country's post-pandemic recovery strategies, as well as interest in the current policy priorities of the Kazakh government and the development of bilateral cooperation between the United States and Kazakhstan.
The delegation included General Director and Board Member of the Caspian Political Center Efgan Nifty, retired Ambassador Richard E. Hoagland, senior manager of the Center Akbota Karibayeva and Program Assistant Jeremy Cohen.
During the meeting, Bulat Sarsenbayev acquainted the guests with the priority areas of activity, goals and objectives of N. Nazarbayev Center, shared plans for holding international events dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the Independence of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and also spoke about the preparations for XIX Secretariat of the Congress and VII Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions to be held in 2022.
For their part, the representatives of the US delegation were interested in the following questions: successful promotion of religious tolerance in Kazakhstan since independence; steps taken by Kazakhstan and the Central Asian region to further increase religious tolerance; US government assistance and support to support Kazakhstan's mission to promote interfaith dialogue and tolerance.
Answering the guests' questions, Chairman of the Board told about the uniqueness of the model of public peace and harmony built in Kazakhstan, recognized throughout the world as the «Kazakhstani Way» or «Nazarbayev Model».
«Nur-Sultan is the geopolitical center of the world interreligious and intercivilizational dialogue. The First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan – Elbasy Nursultan Nazarbayev tirelessly emphasizes that the modern world community precisely through the capital of our country judges the Kazakh state as a country with a favorable investment climate, high infrastructure development, impressive results in socio-economic and cultural development, in which in unity and representatives of more than 100 ethnic groups and 18 confessions live in harmony. The course of promoting and strengthening the policy of interfaith and interethnic harmony, announced by Elbasy at the dawn of independence, throughout modern history forms the key meaning of Kazakhstan's state policy in the field of religion and religious activity. The President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and the Ministry of Information and Social Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan fully support the state policy of the country», - said Chairman of the Board of the Center B. Sarsenbayev.
Along with the implementation of projects and events of the Center, which are of great importance, Bulat Sarsenbayev noted the priority of the potential of partnership relations between Kazakhstan and the United States in the interfaith sphere. One of the first memorandums of the Center was signed with the UN Civilization Alliance during the visit of the Center delegation to New York in December 2019.The strategically important Partnership Agreement with the UN Alliance of Civilizations was signed with A. Moratinos, as the UN's recognition of the Kazakh model of the world and consent.
The sides agreed on further interaction and promotion of interreligious dialogue, as well as the intention to sign an appropriate memorandum of cooperation in order to organize expert meetings, implement joint research projects, hold round tables and conferences.
