Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) – On 12 August 2020, an international online conference on the theme “On the efforts of Uzbekistan and Pakistan in resolving the situation in Afghanistan: prospects for mutually beneficial cooperation” was held.

The joint event of the Institute for Strategic and Interregional Studies under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Pakistani Center for Global and Strategic Studies (CSGS) was attended by heads and leading experts of analytical and research centers of the two countries, as well as representatives of the political-forming circles of Pakistan: diplomats, scientists and specialists in the field of security and foreign policy.

The central theme of the event was the role of Uzbekistan and Pakistan in resolving the Afghan crisis. The participants in the dialogue discussed in detail the issues of economic recovery in Afghanistan, the prospects for the implementation of joint projects contributing to the development of trans-regional cooperation between Central and South Asia.

Speaking at the event, First Deputy Director of the Institute for Strategic and Interregional Studies under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Akramjon Nematov noted that thanks to the efforts of the international community, including regional countries, significant qualitative shifts are taking place in Afghanistan in promoting the peace process; direct inter-Afghan talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban in Doha.

The political basis in this direction was the International Conference on Afghanistan, held in March 2018 in Tashkent at the initiative of the Presidents of Uzbekistan and Afghanistan - Shavkar Mirziyoyev and Ashraf Ghani. The Tashkent Declaration, adopted at the end of the conference, became a kind of strategy for further peacebuilding in Afghanistan, consolidated a comprehensive consensus at the regional and global levels on the need for an early start of direct inter-Afghan negotiations.

A major step forward in launching a peaceful, inclusive negotiation process was the signing of the Peace Agreement between the United States and the Taliban in Doha in February this year, which provided a historic chance to end the 40-year war in Afghanistan and once again confirmed the impossibility of solving the Afghan problem by military means.

Welcoming the results of the meeting of the Loya Jirga of Afghanistan held on 7-9 August 2020, which created the necessary conditions for a direct inter-Afghan dialogue, Mr. Nematov noted the importance of fundamental political support for the peace process and further financial assistance from the leading world powers and international organizations for the socio-economic reconstruction of Afghanistan, which remains a sine qua non for achieving sustainable and lasting peace.

In this vein, the deputy head of the ISMI stressed that Uzbekistan’s involvement in solving the Afghan problem is not limited to diplomatic efforts. Today, Uzbekistan makes a significant contribution to improving the socio-economic situation in Afghanistan through the implementation of specific projects in the field of transport, economy, energy and education, supports the neighboring country in overcoming the humanitarian crisis caused by the pandemic.

In particular, in order to ensure the uninterrupted transit of food and medicine, the country has ensured the operation of checkpoints on the Uzbek-Afghan border in a regular mode and extended the period for granting discounts up to 50% on the transportation of goods through Uzbekistan to / from Afghanistan and for 2020.

These measures significantly contributed to the increase in the scale and intensity of mutual trade, as well as to the expansion of the range of goods supplied to Afghanistan in such a difficult situation for all countries of the world. So, in the first half of 2020, the level of trade with Afghanistan not only remained the same, but increased significantly.

In particular, during this period, mutual trade increased by 24%, amounting to 332.9 million dollars. Railroad transportation increased by 50.7%, reaching 2.20 million tons. This has become an important factor in maintaining stability in Afghanistan amid the humanitarian crisis.

Drawing attention to the significant efforts being made by Uzbekistan in the issue of resolving the situation in Afghanistan, General Director of the Central State Statistics Service, Major General Khalid Amir Jaffri emphasized that the Tashkent Conference, initiated by the President of Uzbekistan Sh. Mirziyoyev, played an important role in achieving the current practical results in the conduct of negotiations.

According to him, the Tashkent Declaration, signed at the end of the conference, is a strategic document covering such key aspects of achieving long-term and sustainable peace in Afghanistan as respect for the independence, territorial integrity and national unity of Afghanistan, ensuring equal rights for all Afghans, and ending violence.

Major General Jaffrey stressed that Uzbekistan and Pakistan, being Afghanistan’s neighbors, who directly feel the emerging situation in this country, can and should play a significant role in the peace process and post-conflict reconstruction of Afghanistan.

At the same time, he also highlighted the initiatives of the President of Uzbekistan Sh. Mirziyoyev to involve Afghanistan in regional trade and economic relations, which makes a significant contribution to the process of stabilizing the situation in this country.

As the head of the ISMI Center Bakhtiyor Mustafayev noted, the establishment of peace in Afghanistan will open up wide opportunities for expanding mutually beneficial trans-regional cooperation between the countries of South and Central Asia.

The implementation of the project for the construction of the Mazar-i-Sharif-Kabul-Peshawar railway line will allow the Central Asian countries to enter the seaports of Gwadar and Karachi, thereby realizing their export potential in full. At the same time, it will turn Pakistan into a key hub for the countries of the region in the supply of various goods from Central Asia to the countries of the Middle East and South Asia.

In ensuring security and stability in Afghanistan, according to Bakhtiyor Mustafayev, training of national personnel for the restoration of the country’s peaceful economy plays an important role. To this end, in January 2018, in the city of Termez, on the initiative of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, an Educational Center was opened, where currently 172 students study, including 46 are girls, in the areas of "Uzbek language and literature", "obstetrics and nursing", "ground transport systems and their operation".

According to the professor of the Punjab University Niaz Ahmad Akhtar, the practical measures taken by Uzbekistan in resolving the Afghan crisis in the field of politics, economy and culture fully meet the interests of Pakistan.

The ongoing infrastructure and economic projects of Uzbekistan in Afghanistan will allow using the great potential of trans-regional cooperation between Central and South Asia.

In this context, the Pakistani scientist noted that the new regional policy of Uzbekistan, headed by President Mirziyoyev, gave a powerful impetus to the intensification of regional cooperation in Central Asia, which, in turn, contributed to an increase in interest among the political-forming circles of Pakistan in the countries of the Central Asian region.

As a result, in order to study the potential and possibilities of developing cooperation between the countries of Central Asia and Pakistan in June this year. a Regional Integration Center was opened at the Punjab University.

Noting the important role of Uzbekistan in Central Asia and the settlement of the situation in Afghanistan, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Pakistan to Afghanistan Zahid Nasrullah Khan, expressed Islamabad’s high interest in enhancing cooperation with Uzbekistan on a wide range of issues. He especially focused on the pragmatic and consistent policy of Uzbekistan in the Afghan direction, which contributed to the achievement of consensus on the fundamental principles of solving the Afghan crisis at the regional and global levels.

Commenting on the possibility of organizing inter-Afghan talks in the near future, Zahid Nasrullah Khan noted that Afghanistan is entering an important stage in its development. According to him, taking into account the international image of Uzbekistan as a trusting and predictable partner, the unification of the efforts of Tashkent and Islamabad in the Afghan direction will contribute to the consolidation of the international community to support political processes under the leadership of the official Kabul and provide economic assistance to Afghanistan in the post-conflict period.

Member of the Council of Consultants of the Center for Global and Strategic Studies of Pakistan Said Nazir Mokhmand noted that peace and stability in Afghanistan meet the common interests of Pakistan and Uzbekistan.

In addition, according to the Pakistani expert, Tashkent and Islamabad can play a decisive role in ensuring stability in Afghanistan through the platforms of the SCO and the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO). The intensification of Uzbekistan’s participation in the work of the ECO, as well as its readiness to establish a mutually beneficial and regular dialogue at the regional level, open up wide opportunities for the implementation of multilateral projects.

According to Rustam Khuramov, head of the ISMI department, the implementation of economic and infrastructure projects will not only stabilize the situation in the IRA, but will also give a powerful impetus to the development of trans-regional cooperation between Uzbekistan and Pakistan.

This will make it possible to fully realize the untapped potential of trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian cooperation between countries, which has reached a qualitatively new level over the past 3 years. Thus, the trade turnover between Uzbekistan and Pakistan increased 5 times and at the end of 2019 made up US$123 million. At the same time, in the period from 2016 to 2019, the number of tourists from Pakistan to Uzbekistan has grown from 400 to over 4 thousand.

As a result of the conference, the participants stressed that peace and stability in Afghanistan will create the necessary conditions for the launch and implementation of large-scale trans-regional projects that can become promising "drivers" for sustainable development of the macro-region of Central and South Asia.

The conference caused a wide response and received positive comments from the Pakistani media for Nasrullah Khan.

Commenting on the holding of the next Uzbek-Pakistani conference on the Afghan issue, the leading Pakistani publications - Islamabad Post, National Herald Tribune, The News - draw attention to the comprehensive and comprehensive nature of the measures taken by Uzbekistan to resolve the situation in Afghanistan.

The commonality of positions and approaches of Uzbekistan and Pakistan on the Afghan issue is pointed out, which can bring trans-regional cooperation between Central and South Asia to a qualitatively new level.

In particular, The News published an article entitled "The Afghan War - One of the Longest Conflicts in History", where the newspaper observers highly appreciate the Uzbek side’s proposal on the need to unite joint efforts to achieve a lasting peace in Afghanistan, note that the interest of both countries in stabilizing the situation in the neighboring country, makes them natural partners in the Afghan arena, capable of putting an end to the long-term crisis.

In their opinion, the transport and infrastructure projects being implemented by Uzbekistan in Afghanistan can turn the Afghan land into a land bridge, which, connecting South Asia with the vast Eurasian region, will allow to overcome geographical barriers between the two fraternal countries.

Confirming this fact, observers of the Islamabad Post newspaper in an article entitled “Uzbekistan-Pakistan-Afghanistan: a triangle of peace” note that since the coming to power of Shamil Mirziyoyev “the Afghan policy of Uzbekistan has come out of the shadows and turned into a separate agenda of the transformed foreign policy strategy country".

Since that time, Uzbekistan has adhered to innovative, balanced and result-oriented approaches in relation to the Afghan problem, pursuing a deeply thought-out and reasonable policy.

At the same time in search of a workable formula aimed at ensuring lasting peace on Afghan soil, Uzbekistan is turning into one of the main sources of hope for the Afghan population, suffering from the long-term crisis and its socio-economic consequences.

This trend, according to experts from the Pakistani edition, is evidenced by the expansion of Tashkent’s role in providing Afghanistan with electricity and the adoption by the Uzbek leadership of a set of measures designed to intensify its trade and economic ties with its southern neighbor.

In this vein, the National Herald Tribune newspaper calls Uzbekistan a responsible player in the Afghan arena and emphasizes that the Uzbek and Pakistani authorities share a common philosophy on the Afghan issue, considering the Afghan peace process as the only and uncontested way to stabilize the situation in a country affected by a long-term crisis.