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Foreign Ministers from all five Central Asian states to attend regional conference on Afghanistan in Istanbul

Kazakhstan Materials 2 November 2011 11:27 (UTC +04:00)
Foreign Ministers from all five Central Asian states, including Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan will join top diplomats from other countries in the region to attend an international conference on Afghanistan that opens in Istanbul, Turkey, on November 2

Foreign Ministers from all five Central Asian states, including Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan will join top diplomats from other countries in the region to attend an international conference on Afghanistan that opens in Istanbul, Turkey, on November 2, a senior U.S. administration official told reporters in Washington, CA-NEWS reported referring to Silk Road Newsline.

"This is being co-chaired by both Afghanistan and Turkey - the regional partners who will be there - who will be represented there are China, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan - so all the "stans" - Pakistan, India, Iran, Russia, and then Saudi Arabia and the UAE from the Gulf. So it's those 14 key partners," the official said.

"And then many of the international partners, including the U.S., other Europeans, Japan, will participate as supporters. So we want to welcome the regional efforts, but this is not our process. This is a process organized by the region," the official said adding that Iran is also expected to participate at some level. "Iran obviously has been invited. They share quite a long border. They're a critical neighbor. From conversations we've had, I don't think that they'll be represented at the foreign ministerial level but by someone lower level than that."

Istanbul conference is expected to adopt a joint declaration.

"From our perspective, the neighbors and their neighbors will use this as an opportunity to do probably four things in the declaration like that: reiterate a shared commitment to sovereignty, as I just noted; second, endorse a transition to Afghan security leadership; also endorse Afghan efforts for a political solution; and then fourth, to build towards a sustainable Afghan economy that can help to achieve the New Silk Road regional economic vision," the official said.

Speaking to reporters earlier in Washington, U.S. Department of State spokesperson Victoria Nuland said that the Istanbul conference is being held "in support of the vision that we share with our Turkish allies, with Afghanistan, and with many of the countries bordering, that there is so much opportunity and prosperity to be had, not only for Afghanistan, but also for its neighbors." "If they can come to a common political understanding, and if they can start working on the - on economic openness, on transportation, on these kinds of links."

"We want all of Afghanistan's neighbors to help support peace, stability, economic prosperity in Afghanistan not only for Afghanistan's stake, but because increased political and trade relationships between India and Afghanistan, Pakistan and Afghanistan, India and Pakistan will be good for the region, that all boats will rise," Nuland said.

A senior U.S. administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, described the Istanbul conference as one of several upcoming international venues where ways to ensure international support for Afghanistan and its neighbors in Central and South Asia will be discussed.

After Istanbul, a meeting of the International Contact Group on Afghanistan will take place in mid-November in Astana, Kazakhstan, where representatives of 50 countries are expected to attend.

The Astana meeting will be followed by a large conference in Bonn, Germany, where 85 countries and 15 international organizations will participate in early December.

There will also be a Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan, which will be held in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, in March of 2012, the official said.

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