Tashkent, 27 July 2022 (TDI): The Acting Foreign Minister of Afghanistan, Amir Khan Muttaqi addressed the Summit on Afghanistan held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The two-day summit had its first conference on Tuesday.

Tashkent Summit on Afghanistan

Uzbekistan hosted a two-day international conference on Afghanistan in Tashkent. It was attended by representatives from 20 countries including India, Pakistan, and Qatar. The main goal of the conference is to develop measures that can promote stability in Afghanistan.

The Foreign Minister of Uzbekistan, Vladimir Norov also explained the agenda of the conference. He said that its purpose is to approach the world community to help Afghanistan in post-conflict reconstruction.

It would also help Afghanistan in regional cooperation processes that will be beneficial for the Afghan people and the whole world.

However, he added that the Summit had nothing to do with the recognition of the Islamic Emirate government. It only hopes to reduce the impacts of the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and help the neighboring nations too, who are getting affected by it.

Taliban’s Delegation in the Summit

A Taliban Delegation led by Afghanistan’s interim government also attended the Summit. The Deputy Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Taliban government, Zia Ahmad also announced this on Twitter.

He informed that a delegation led by the Acting Foreign Minister of Afghanistan, Amir Khan Muttaqi has left Kabul for Tashkent to participate in the International Conference on Afghanistan.

Afghanistan Foreign Minister’s Address

The Acting Foreign Minister of Afghanistan also addressed the Summit. He informed the participants that the new government has tried to manage services like security, education, and the economy within their capacities.

He said that poverty has increased due to US sanctions as it has crushed the state’s economy. Furthermore, it has affected public-benefitting government activities.

Amir Khan also explained that for the first time a national budget purely reliant on state revenues was announced. Besides this, he also informed that the government has upheld the amnesty for all political and military opposition.

The Minister said that for the first time in the history of Afghan’s political changes neither anyone holding different political opinions was dismissed nor the previous administration workers were forced out of their jobs.

He also explained the situation of security in Afghanistan. The Foreign Minister said that they have recruited a hundred thousand youth to the national army and police. Additionally, even the security personnel have to go through a biometric registration process.

Amir Khan Muttaqi further stated that it was all to uphold their Doha Agreement to not allow anyone to use the soil of Afghanistan against another country.

He said that the government in Afghanistan views regional and international security as interconnected to theirs therefore they are doing everything possible to fulfill their security responsibilities.

Concluding his remarks he said that he hoped that the US would fulfill its part of the agreement. That they would remove the sanctions on Afghanistan and would help the state.

Furthermore, he invited all the other world countries to begin engagements with the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. He said that it was time that they invest in Afghanistan’s stability instead of insecurity.

US Special Representative Remarks

The US Special Representative for Peace Affairs in Afghanistan, Thomas West also attended the Summit. He informed that the US was prepared to engage with the Taliban and unfreeze frozen reserves of Afghanistan banks.

He said that the US is the world’s leading contributor of humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan and they would continue to help it.

He added that focusing on Afghanistan’s economic stabilization was of utmost importance for everyone. So they were ready to engage with Afghan technocrats and the Taliban to enhance the macroeconomic stability of the state.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR