ASHGABAT, April 19 (Itar-Tass) — Delegates from Russia and another fourteen states, representatives of the UN, EU and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe on Wednesday discussed a draft Kabul declaration on stabilization efforts in Afghanistan.
This was the second and final meeting in the run-up to an international ministerial conference on Afghanistan due in Kabul on June 14, where the declaration is expected to be adopted.
The previous meeting took place in Kabul on February 29.
Delegates highlighted “positive dynamics in the process of settlement in Afghanistan” and “stronger consolidation of joint efforts for the sake of stability in that country and in the Central Asian region in general.”
“Turkmenistan as Afghanistan’s neighbor is interested in its sustainable development and integration into global economy,” Turkmen Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov said.
He noted that the republic proposes the implementation of large-scale projects aimed at strengthening Afghanistan’s social and economic infrastructure. In 2012 it is planned to begin the construction of the Atamyrat-Ymamnazar-Akina-Andhoi railway and in 2013 - a power transmission line that will help to increase exports of Turkmenistan’s electric power to Afghanistan five-fold.
The implementation of the project to build the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline will be of special importance for the Afghan economy, said Afghanistan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Jawed Ludin.
“All proposed partnership projects will yield big profits not only for the Afghan people, but also for the whole region,” he said.
Participants in the meeting were unanimous in their opinion that it is necessary to engage different formats of cooperation. They underlined that peaceful solution to Afghanistan’s problem lies in Afghanistan’s integration into infrastructures of regional and global economies.