MOSCOW, January 23. /ITAR-TASS/. The participants in consultations of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states, SCO observer countries and other sides interested in ensuring regional security, have stressed the importance of the provision of assistance to Afghanistan after the withdrawal of the international forces from the country, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.
The consultations were attended by representatives of the Foreign Ministries of Russia, Kazakhstan, China, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, India, Iran, Mongolia, Pakistan and Turkey. Delegations of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the Secretariat of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) and the Antiterrorism Centre of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), were also represented at the meeting.
“They exchanged views on regional security, with emphasis on the fight against international terrorism and religious extremism, drug trafficking, organized crime, cyber crime, as well as other challenges and threats that have acquired a trans-boundary nature,” the ministry said. “The parties stressed the importance of combating terrorism and illegal opium economy in Afghanistan as a necessary condition for achieving long-term security and prosperity in the region.
The meeting stressed the importance of “continuing the provision of international assistance to the Afghan national security forces in terms of capacity building and financial assistance in order to prevent deterioration of the security situation after the mission of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) is completed.”
It was also noted that “national reconciliation should take place under the leadership and by the Afghan people in order to facilitate the earliest achievement of peace and stability in the country.