MOSCOW, November 7. /TASS/. The CIS Executive Committee supported the proposal of the Collective Security Treaty Organization to set up a joint working group to develop a plan for establishing a security belt around Afghanistan, CIS Secretary General Sergey Lebedev said.

"As for the Afghan issue, which will also be considered today, the CIS Executive Committee has fully supported the proposal of the CSTO secretariat to establish a joint working group of representatives from the relevant departments of our organizations in order to develop a joint comprehensive plan for the creation of a security belt around Afghanistan," he said at a meeting of security council secretaries from around the Commonwealth in Moscow. "We hope that the work of this group will help defuse the situation in this region that pertains to the activities of international terrorist organizations, smuggling of narcotics and weapons, along with illegal migration."

The concept of a security belt around Afghanistan was announced by Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon at a special CSTO summit in January 2022. Later, a working group on Afghanistan was set up, which answers to the CSTO Council of Foreign Ministers and involves representatives of relevant departments from the UN, the CIS, the SCO, the Afghan Embassy and interested third countries.