French President Nicholas Sarkozy Tuesday praised the strategic importance of Kazakhstan as French firms signed a raft of key energy deals with the Central Asian state.
The visit, his first as president to Kazakhstan, is being touted as the culmination of a diplomatic push aimed at securing French companies a larger role in Central Asia's largest economy despite criticism of its rights record.
The most significant deal was an agreement signed between French energy giants Total SA (TOT) and GDF Suez SA (GSZ.FR) and GDF Suez and the Kazakhstan state energy company to develop the Khvalynkskoye gas field in the Caspian Sea.
The signing was attended by Sarkozy, making a lightning one-day visit, and his Kazakh counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev.
Kazakhstan, ruled since its independence by Nazarbayev, has long been courted by the West for its natural resource reserves and strategic position vis-à-vis neighbors China and Russia.
"The best way to resolve problems - and there are problems and I have talked to the president - is not necessarily to come and give lessons," said Sarkozy at a news conference with Nazarbayev.
"It's to come as a friend to try and find solutions," he added.
Underlining their strategic alliance, the two countries also signed an agreement allowing France to transport supplies across Kazakhstan for its contingent in Afghanistan.
"In the course of today's negotiations an agreement was signed on the transit of military hardware and personnel through the territory of Kazakhstan to support French forces in Afghanistan," Nazarbayev said after talks with Sarkozy.
The trip comes at a crucial time for Astana as international criticism mounts over Kazakhstan's human rights record.
Kazakhstan is set in January to become the first former Soviet state to chair the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and Human Rights Watch called on Sarkozy to press them to implement promised reforms.
Most notably, the New York-based watchdog asked him to raise the case of activist Yevgeniy Zhovtis, sentenced to four years in prison in September for a traffic accident that resulted in a man's death.
The U.S. and OSCE have both criticized the conduct of the trial, raising questions about its fairness and the impartiality of the judge.
Nazarbayev brushed off a brewing controversy over accusations that he is seeking to make himself president for life.
"All questions of how long a president can serve are answered in the constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan," he said.
The constitution was altered in 2007 to allow Nazarbayev as the first president of Kazakhstan to stand for as many terms as he wants.