DUSHANBE, November 3 (Itar-Tass) — Tajik Foreign Minister Khamrakhon Zarifi warned Afghanistan faces a real danger of the country's split and civil war after the pullout of the NATO forces. He was speaking at the Istanbul conference on Afghanistan. The text of his speech was disseminated by the information department of Tajikistan's Foreign Ministry on Thursday.
Zarifi believes that "destructive forces, by carrying out acts of terror, are actually destroying peace and stability in the country and split the ranks among the ethnic groups living in Afghanistan, so that the country be involved in a full-blown civil war by the time of the withdrawal of foreign forces."
In this situation, the Tajik minister expressed the hope that the Istanbul meeting "will become an important landmark in the way of restoring peace, security and stability, and creating favorable conditions for economic and social development of Afghanistan."
"For its part, Tajikistan is actively contributing to the post-conflict development of Afghanistan," Zarifi noted offering the international community to help implement the Tajik project to set up a specialist-training center for Afghanistan in Dushanbe.
"Tajikistan supports the implementation of all regional infrastructure projects in the field of communications and transport for Afghanistan," Zarifi added.
These include five operating stationary ferries across the Pyandzh, the commissioning of a 200-kilowatt transmission line from Tajikistan Sanngtuda-1 (built with a 75-percent Russian stake - eds Itar-Tass) to the Afghan town of Puli Khumri in late October 2011, which will supply cheap electricity to Afghanistan.
Khamkharon Zarifi also noted the current projects of high-voltage transmission lines through Afghanistan, noting in particular the CASA-1000 Project, whose implementation will resolve the problem of power shortages in Afghanistan and Pakistan and the excessive supply of cheap electricity in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.