Ashgabat, 8 July 2021 (TDI): A Ministerial meeting on Afghan issues was held with the participation of the heads of external policy agencies of the countries of Central Asia through videoconferencing. The organizers of the dialogue were the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, and the UN Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia.
The session was attended by the leadership of the external policy agencies of Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Central Asia, the Head of the UN Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia Natalia Gherman, Special Representative of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Afghanistan Talgat Kaliyev and the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General (Political) for Afghanistan in the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) Mette Knudsen.
During the meeting, the participants discussed the regional cooperation, advancement of the peace process in Afghanistan, security issues, as well as economic development. A constructive exchange of views took place on current and future collaboration on these vectors.In his speech, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan Rashid Meredov stressed the importance of political and socio-economic support of the world community for the attainment of favorable development of the peace process in Afghanistan, the positive outcome of which is directly linked to the political, economic, and social atmosphere in the region and beyond. The role of the countries of Central Asia, which together with Afghanistan form a single geopolitical and geo-economic space, and are linked by centuries-long history, culture, and inter-human relations were underlined. The head of the MFA of Turkmenistan added that Turkmenistan intends to render further support to socio-economic development of Afghanistan, including through the assistance of humanitarian scope. The participants expressed their vision of the situation in the region and
exchanged concrete proposals. The Turkmen side has declared its intention to intensify the political and diplomatic efforts in the regional and international formats and expressed
assuredness in the key role of the United Nation in the given process. In this context, the role of the International Year of Peace and Trust was emphasized, the very name of which reflects the main mechanisms for establishing constructive ties between countries and people.
