Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Sept. 7
By Huseyn Hasanov – Trend:
Turkmenistan’s Foreign Ministry, with the support of OSCE Centre in Ashgabat, hosted the fourth meeting of the regional technical working group on confidence-building measures as part of the Istanbul Process on Afghanistan, the OSCE said Sept. 7.
The Istanbul Process was established to provide a platform to discuss regional issues, particularly encouraging security, political and economic cooperation between Afghanistan and its neighbors.
The participating states of the process are Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and the United Arab Emirates.
According to the OSCE message, the event was attended by representatives of the participating states as well as regional and international organizations, including the Asian Development Bank (ADB), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
The working group presented countries’ reports on their activities and plans for future action regarding infrastructure projects, the message said.
According to the message, participants also exchanged views on enhancing the efficiency of interaction between countries and international organizations during the implementation of projects.
Since 2012, Turkmenistan, jointly with Azerbaijan, co-chairs the Regional Infrastructure Confidence-Building Measures (RI-CBM) technical group.
The RI-CBM includes the implementation of a number of major regional projects, such as the construction of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline, the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Tajikistan railroad, as well as electricity power lines.
“The OSCE sees long-term security and stability in Afghanistan as having a direct impact on security in the OSCE region and undertakes various activities to support regional initiatives that address security and other issues in Afghanistan,” said Natalya Drozd, head of the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat.