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Kabul: The meeting of foreign ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization was inaugurated in Tashkent on July 29, hosted by Vladimir Narov, Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan and attended by the foreign ministers of Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, India and Pakistan and Zhang Ming, the Secretary General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, in Tashkent.
On the first day of the meeting of foreign ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, some foreign ministers expressed concern about the activities of terrorist groups in Afghanistan.
The Foreign Minister of Tajikistan said in this meeting on Friday that with the fall of the previous government of Afghanistan, the conditions for the activities of terrorist groups in this country have become favorable.
Tajik Foreign Minister Sirajuddin Mehredin said: “We are all worried about Afghanistan because terrorist groups operate there with better conditions.”
He added that the continued activity of terrorist groups has increased drug trafficking and “their activities are considered a serious threat to the countries of Central Asia.”
Indian Foreign Minister Jay Shankar also said in this conference that his country continues to provide humanitarian support to Afghanistan, but added: “It is essential for us not to tolerate terrorism in all its manifestations.”
Jay Shankar tweeted: “Our humanitarian support including wheat, medicine, vaccines and clothes will continue to Afghanistan.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Foreign Ministers’ Meeting that Russia will work closely with Uzbekistan to find a solution to Afghanistan’s problems.
“Today we announced that the efforts of Uzbekistan and the Russian Federation within the framework of the so-called Moscow format, the efforts of the People’s Republic of China, which regularly holds meetings of Afghan neighbors, are all complementary to each other,” he said. “With every incident like this, we take several steps forward.”
Lavrov added: “We have a very close position with our Uzbek friends regarding the need to understand the current realities in Afghanistan and cooperate with the current leadership.”
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization was established in 2001 at a meeting in Shanghai by the presidents of Russia, China, the Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Afghanistan became an observer member of this organization in 2012, but has never been able to gain permanent membership of the said organization. Although Afghanistan participated in the meetings of this organization in the past years, but after the Taliban came to power, this country has not participated in the Shanghai meetings.
