New Delhi: Uzbekistan's capital Tashkent is currently hosting a two-day international conference on Afghanistan's economic and security development with the participation of 20 countries including India. The meeting is happening under the current Taliban regime. Amid the focus of the world shifted to the Ukraine crisis, the Afghanistan scarcity was almost forgotten by the global community that is still continuing in the conflict-ridden country.
Taliban's acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi is participating in the conference. This meeting will help promote stability after the conflict as well as reconstruction in the war-torn country. The key focus of the high-level meeting is on connectivity and on how to provide support to Afghanistan. India has been steadfast in providing humanitarian support including wheat and other essentials to Afghanistan ever since the Taliban took over the country.
New Delhi has been in touch with several world leaders on the situation in Afghanistan. India has also sent a technical team to Kabul to closely monitor and coordinate the efforts of various stakeholders for the effective delivery of humanitarian assistance and in continuing India's engagement with the Afghan people. This is seen as the de facto opening of the Indian mission in Kabul. During today's meeting, India is expected to talk about what it has been doing to support Afghanistan ever since the country collapsed and the Taliban took over. Recently, another Indian team visited Kabul to oversee the delivery operations of India's humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan and met with senior members of the Taliban.
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During the visit, an assessment of the security situation was also carried out. India's long-standing links with Afghan society and the development partnership including humanitarian assistance for the people of Afghanistan will continue to guide New Delhi's approach going forward. In November last year, India hosted a regional dialogue on the situation in the country that was attended by NSAs of Russia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
People in Afghanistan are facing a severe socio-economic crisis. According to the United Nations World Food Programme, 90 per cent of Afghans are not getting enough to eat, with 23 million Afghans on the brink of extreme poverty. According to the Save the Children humanitarian aid organization, 1.1 million children in the country suffer from the most severe stage of hunger.
The International Conference on the economic and security situation unfolding in Afghanistan' is aimed at developing a set of measures and proposals for the approaches of the world community to promote stability, security, post-conflict reconstruction in Afghanistan and its integration into regional cooperation processes in the interests of the multinational Afghan people and the world as a whole.
Special representatives for Afghanistan of the states of Central and South Asia, Europe, America, the Near and Middle East, the Asia-Pacific region, heads and specialists of international and regional organizations, think tanks and members of the delegation of the Interim Government of Afghanistan are participating in the meeting.
It is pertinent to note that Uzbekistan has played an important role when it comes to Afghanistan. Anything that happens in Afghanistan impacts Tashkent directly. Uzbekistan has been the venue for key meetings related to Afghanistan. Earlier meetings took place in 2018 and 2021. Last year’s meeting focused on regional connectivity between South and Central Asia and Afghanistan was represented by the then Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.
