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Central Asian states, Russia to jointly fight arms smuggling

The foreign ministers of Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan issued a joint statement after the online session ‘Central Asia plus Russia’

NUR-SULTAN, October 15. /TASS/. Central Asian states and Russia are ready to jointly fight the threat of drug trafficking and arms smuggling, the foreign ministers of Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan said in a joint statement after the online session ‘Central Asia plus Russia.’

"While stressing the concern over the threat of drug trafficking in the region, arms and ammunition smuggling, we express our readiness for jointly fighting these negative manifestations, including with the participation of the Afghan side," says the statement posted on the website of Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry.

The document stresses that comprehensive and lasting peace in Afghanistan can be achieved only through inclusive negotiations between Afghanis themselves on the political settlement.

"While expressing concern over the high level of a terrorist threat in Afghanistan, the presence of international terrorist organizations in that country, we will continue strengthening interaction for the purpose of promoting the process of the Afghan national reconciliation and the country’s recovery," the document says.

The Central Asian states and Russia intend to continue fighting the use of information and communication technologies for criminal goals, including the spread of fake news, recruitment and instructing, fund-raising and cyberattacks. They are planning to develop bilateral and multilateral contractual and legal framework of international information security, the statement says.