U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton praised Kazakhstan's role as a global leader and Washington's strategic partner in non-proliferation, disarmament and security, Tengrinews.kz reports citing Silk Way news website.

"We view Kazakhstan not only as a regional player, but also as a global leader. Few countries can be compared to Kazakhstan in terms of its experience in non-proliferation," Clinton said after her talks with Kazakhstan Foreign Minister Yerlan Idrissov on October 3.

According to the U.S. Secretary of State, the meeting covered partnership in non-proliferation, disarmament and security. "I thanked the Foreign Minister for Kazakhstan's work with IAEA on creation of the nuclear fuel bank," she added. Clinton also highly evaluated Kazakhstan's contribution into the international efforts in Afghanistan.

"Being a critically important link in the Northern distribution network, Kazakhstan takes part in our efforts to supply and support our troops in Afghanistan. Kazakhstan also looks into the future, where the regional cooperation and economic integration will be strengthening after the process of transfer of responsibilities for maintaining security is completed in 2014. Kazakhstan has also undertaken to render support to Afghanistan's National Security Forces and focused its attention on infrastructure projects and training of Afghan officials," Clinton noted.

Kazakhstan Foreign Minister, in his turn, stressed that Kazakhstan's strive to make Central Asia "a platform for real cooperation" and continue to further enhance Kazakhstan-American relations. "During the years of Kazakhstan's independence our countries have built stable, dynamic and broad relations that cover many areas: from nuclear non-proliferation to energy partnership, statehood building and regional security. I will try to apply all the efforts to ensure further enhancement of our relations for the benefit of our countries, our region and the whole world," Idrissov said.