Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) - First Deputy Director of the Institute for Strategic and Interregional Studies (ISMI) under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Akramjon Nematov at an international conference on "Problems of regional security in Central Asia after August 2021" stressed the importance of more active involvement of Afghanistan in regional trade and economic ties.

In this regard, the expert noted, the priority should be the implementation of large infrastructure projects designed to return this country to its lost historical role as a key link in ensuring the interconnection of Central and South Asia. 

This, according to Akramjon Nematov, is facilitated by an absolutely new political atmosphere of trust and mutually beneficial cooperation in the Central Asian region, an increased level of strategic partnership with the countries of South Asia. Thanks to the constructive and pragmatic foreign policy of Uzbekistan, the situation in Central Asia has fundamentally changed, favorable conditions are being created in the region for the joint solution of security and sustainable development problems, the practical implementation of trans-regional projects that can become the key to the prosperity of the vast region of Eurasia.

As the representative of the ISMI emphasized, the construction of the Mazar-i-Sharif-Kabul-Peshawar, Mazar-i-Sharif-Herat-Chokhbahar railways, the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline, the Surkhan- Puli-Khumri power transmission line, which should become an integral part of the KASA project, have huge political-economic perspective. These projects will create alternative sources of income for the population and, as a result, will contribute to the elimination of the social underpinnings of the conflict. Moreover, it will be a significant investment in the peace process in Afghanistan.

At the same time, “the proposed projects represent a source of enormous economic benefits, they will increase the parties’ interest in establishing security in Afghanistan, these projects are capable of stabilizing the region more than any political deal,” concluded Akramjon Nematov.

The event was organized on 14 December by the International Institute of Central Asia (MICA) together with the A. Gorchakov Russian Foundation for Public Diplomacy Support and the scientific and educational program of the School for Central Asia Foundation. It was attended by about 90 experts and scientists, applicants and students from the countries of Central Asia, Russia and Azerbaijan.