HC Deb 26 November 2001 vol 375 c655W
Mr. Heath

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to change the permanent diplomatic presence in(a) Dushanbe, (b) Bishkek, (c) Ashgabat and (d) Tashkent. [17156]

Peter Hain

The Government hope to have diplomatic representation in Dushanbe soon; we also plan to open a full embassy in Bishkek in 2003, and a diplomat will be posted to Bishkek early next year to supervise the setting up of the mission; there are no current plans to change the diplomatic presence in Ashgabat; the embassy in Tashkent will be shortly reinforced with a defence attach—and a drugs liaison officer will be posted in the summer of 2002.

Mr. Heath

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to enhance diplomatic representation in Central Asia. [17158]

Peter Hain

The Government hope to have diplomatic representation in Dushanbe soon; we also plan to open a full embassy in Bishkek in 2003, and a diplomat will be posted to Bishkek early next year to supervise the setting up of the mission; the embassy in Tashkent will be shortly reinforced with a defence attach—and a drugs liaison officer will be posted in summer 2002. We have recently reinforced the embassy in Ashgabat with a drugs liaison officer, and a regional defence attach3 been posted to Almaty. The opening of an embassy in Bishkek and an office in Dushanbe will also strengthen the capabilities of the embassies in Almaty and Tashkent respectively, which currently cover those countries, by freeing up resources.