U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel met with Kazakhstan's Defense Minister Adilbek Dzhaksybekov at the Pentagon Wednesday. "Secretary Hagel recognized Kazakhstan's continued support to the Northern Distribution Network and stabilization efforts in Afghanistan," Pentagon spokesman George Little said in a statement. "Secretary Hagel emphasized the U.S. and Kazakhstan's shared interest in maintaining stability in Afghanistan, and the entire Central Asian region, after 2014 through our existing political, economic, and security commitments," Little said in the statement. "Secretary Hagel stressed the mutual desire for a strategic partnership based on shared interests such as counterterrorism and defense modernization," Little said.
