“I think the feeling in central Asia is that this increased attention from Western countries is temporary, it’s not going to last for too long,” she said.

As well as looking to sweet talk central Asia’s leaders, Lord Cameron also discussed strengthening labour routes to Britain.

Over the past couple of years, the government has encouraged migrant workers from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan to Britain to plug workforce gaps created by Brexit.

In June last year, Leo Docherty, then the Europe Minister, visited central Asia to agree deals for fruit pickers to travel to Britain. Nicholas Bowler, the British ambassador in Kyrgyzstan, has described Kyrgyz workers as “hard-working” and “reliable”.