International summit on Afghan peace process begins in Tashkent today
March 26, 2018
A two-day international conference begins in Uzbekistan’s capital Tashkent today to find a solution to the Afghan conflict.
The event will be inaugurated by Uzbekistan President Mirziyoyev and Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani, who will deliver the opening address.
The conference, titled "Peaceful Cooperation in Security and Regional Interaction", will see representatives of 20 countries and international organisations, including the head of the UN Mission for Assistance to Afghanistan Tadamiti Yamamoto, EU High Commissar for Foreign Affairs and Security Politics Federica Mogherini, US Deputy State Secretary Thomas Shannon, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, Indian State Minister for External Affairs MJ Akbar and Pakistan Foreign Minister Muhammad Asif, among others.
The conference is set to discuss the Afghan peace process, as well as the issues of counterterrorism, anti-narcotics operations, human smuggling and regional cooperation.
A statement by the Uzbek Foreign Ministry said the conference will adopt a declaration which will state that the peace process should be Afghan-led and Afghan-owned and in line with UN resolutions on the matter.
On February 28, Ghani had hosted the Kabul Process for Peace and Security Cooperation which saw attendance from regional states and organisations as well.
The conference, the first part of which was held in June last year, aimed to find a settlement to the decades-long conflict in Afghanistan.
In a message to the Taliban, the Afghan president said at the conference that peace is in their hands and called on the group to accept peace and come together to save this country.
He said that the peace process and a ceasefire must be agreed upon and that Taliban must be declared a political group.
