ALMATY, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Monday that Kazakhstan is the most reliable cooperation partner of the United States in Central Asia, according to a news release by the Kazakh Foreign Ministry on Tuesday.

    Rice made the remarks at a meeting with visiting Kazakh Foreign Minister Marat Tazhin on Monday in New York. Their talks focused on the issues of security and cooperation in Central Asia.

    Emphasizing Kazakhstan is a geographically significant country in Asia, Rice spoke highly of the country's reforms in the political, social and economic fields, and expressed support for Kazakhstan to hold the rotating presidency of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in 2010.

    Tazhin said Kazakhstan will continue to assist the war-stricken Afghanistan in its reconstruction, and briefed Rice on the Kazakh government's related plans.

    Both sides agreed that in order to fully resume Afghanistan's economic and social order, it is necessary to engage the country in the process of the Asian integration.