TASHKENT (Reuters) -Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev proposed on Sunday forming a regional co-operation organisation he called the “Community of Central Asia”, in what he said was a bid to promote economic integration in the region of more than 80 million people.

In a speech at a meeting in Tashkent of the leaders of the five post-Soviet republics of Central Asia, as well as Azerbaijan, Mirziyoyev suggested transforming regular meetings between the leaders of the five former Soviet republics of Central Asia into a formal regional bloc.

He also stressed the need to boost economic, security and environmental cooperation.

Mineral and energy rich Central Asia has traditionally been closely tied economically and politically to Russia, but is now being courted by the West. China, a close ne

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