New Delhi: At the initiative of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Tashkent will host a two-day International Conference on “Afghanistan: Security and Economic Development” beginning Monday. India will be represented by a senior officer from the Ministry of External Affairs in Uzbekistan at the high-level conference. The meeting assumes significance as it is taking place almost after 1 year since the Taliban took over Afghanistan on 15 August 2021.
At the conference, several important issues aimed at achieving sustainable peace and ensuring security in this country will be considered. 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 conference 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.
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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 participating in the solution of the Afghan problem will gather at one site for the first time, in Tashkent.
During the two-day event, the participants will consider issues of the socio-economic reconstruction of Afghanistan, the implementation of infrastructure and humanitarian projects designed to bring the long-awaited peace to the current and future generations of the Afghan people. The main goal is to establish an effective dialogue of the international community on Afghanistan issues, in particular, to assist in the formation of a common position in countering international terrorism, building a constructive dialogue with neighbouring countries and the current authorities of Afghanistan.
According to experts, the upcoming forum is an important condition for achieving lasting peace and sustainable development in Afghanistan. The focus of such a dialogue will be on the implementation by the Interim Government of Afghanistan of the key requirements of the international community including steps to prevent the transformation of Afghan land into a permanent haven for terrorist organizations and the use of the country’s territory against the security interests of neighbouring countries and other states of the world.
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Second, the formation of a government based on broad representation, ensuring human rights and freedoms, especially for women and all ethnic and religious groups, is a fundamental condition for national reconciliation in Afghanistan. An important outcome of the forum will be the implementation of the Special Resolution of the UN General Assembly on strengthening the connectivity between Central and South Asia, adopted on July 11 this year at the initiative of the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, which emphasizes the key importance of Afghanistan for international peace, security and sustainable development.
Uzbekistan traditionally pursues a friendly policy towards Afghanistan, taking into account the national interests of both states, and the generally recognized principles and norms of international law. Tashkent has always respected the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of the neighbouring country.
This conference is a logical continuation of the Tashkent International High-Level Conference on Afghanistan “Peace Process, Security Cooperation and Regional Connectivity”, held on 27 March 2018, and the International Conference “Central and South Asia: Regional Connectivity. Challenges and Opportunities”, held on 15-16 July 2021, in Tashkent.
