"No decision on the modernisation of the air defence with assistance from a British company has been yet taken but what is required is examination of all the proposals coming not only from this but also from other companies," Kazakh Foreign Minister Kasymzhomart Tokaev told RIA Novosti and Reuters. He admitted the on-going talks with Bae Systems but remarked that there is no likelihood of an agreement to be signed in the near future. Tokaev believes that air defence modernisation should be regarded from the angle of adaptation to the Kazakh armament systems.
The Kazakh foreign minister noted a certain controversy that might arise over a possible violation of the CSTO agreements (which do not provide for the participation of third countries in the military affairs of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation) but added that "these agreements can have a different interpretation". Tokaev pointed to the necessity of "considering the violation of a technological chain, caused by a likely emergence of 'a hole' in the air-defence system (of the CSTO countries)". But this is not the main thing. "The main thing is to study all relevant proposals in conditions of transparency and fair competition," said the minister.
"On the other hand, it is not that urgent to embark on the modernisation of Kazakh air defence technology instantly," said the minister. "As far as I know, we have got enough time to regard proposals from all the companies."
