Tashkent to host conference on peace in Afghanistan
20/01/2018 11:51
Tashkent to host conference on peace in Afghanistan
20/01/2018 11:51
Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Uzbekistan and Afghanistan have come forward with a joint initiative to hold an international ministerial conference “Afghanistan is the road to a peaceful future” in Tashkent in late March 2018, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan Abdulaziz Kamilov told the UN Security Council in New York on the debate on Central Asia and Afghanistan on 19 January.
Uzbek official said that peace in Afghanistan will bring tangible benefits to all countries of the vast Eurasian continent, promoting the construction of roads and railways, laying of pipelines, developing regional and trans-regional trade in all directions.
Kamilov said that in order to ensure peace, broad international consensus on the basic issues of establishment of peace and security in Afghanistan is required.
Uzbek Foreign Minister said that national reconciliation through direct dialogue between the central government and main forces of the armed opposition should be achieved.
Uzbekistan and Afghanistan are jointly initiating an International Ministerial Conference titled "Afghanistan – path to a peaceful future" in Tashkent in late March 2018, Abdulaziz Kamilov underlined.
“Together with our partners in Afghanistan and some other countries, we have preliminarily studied this issue in detail and came to a conclusion that the Tashkent meeting would become a logical continuation of the second meeting of the "Kabul Process", scheduled for late February 2018, and consolidate the results achieved within the framework of the common international efforts at various levels,” he said.
“Ultimately, holding a high-level forum in Tashkent should demonstrate that the "Afghan problem" will not remain in modern history as a precedent of the helplessness and indifference of the world community in countering the challenges and threats common to all mankind,” Uzbek minister stated.
“As you know, Uzbekistan has a successful experience in promoting the peace process in Afghanistan. In 1999, at our initiative, Tashkent hosted a meeting of "6 + 2" Contact Group at the level of deputy foreign ministers of Afghanistan’s neighboring countries, as well as Russia and the United States, with the participation of representatives of the warring parties, including the Taliban movement. Following the talks, the "Tashkent Declaration on the Basic Principles for the Peaceful Settlement of the Conflict in Afghanistan" was adopted,” Kamilov said.
He said that at present, the Uzbek side is consistently making a real contribution to the development of regional cooperation, especially in terms of engaging Afghanistan in the system of trade, economic and infrastructural ties with the states of Central Asia.
“We see the main goals of the multilateral meeting in Tashkent in agreeing the basic principles of the peaceful settlement in Afghanistan, elaborating a mechanism for "launching" negotiations between the government of Afghanistan and the armed opposition, as well as coordinating international joint actions to support this process,” Kamilov added.
In the result of the conference, the participants will adopt the Tashkent Declaration, which will define the basic principles and conditions for a peaceful settlement, specify the obligations of the Afghan government and the armed opposition, as well as the international community in terms of “launching” the negotiation process and its support.
The participants will appeal of the participants of the Tashkent Conference to all groups of the armed opposition in Afghanistan to stop the violence and take part in the negotiation process with the Afghan government.
He said that to ensure the efficiency and productivity of the Tashkent Conference, and taking into account the views of our Afghan partners, we would like to invite the Secretary-General of the United Nations Mr. António Guterres, the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, foreign ministers of Russia, China, the United States, India, Iran, Pakistan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, as well as the countries of Central Asia to take part in its work.
The Uzbek side would be grateful for the support of the members of the UN Security Council of this joint initiative with Afghanistan, he said.
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