Gareth Bayley is also the Foreign & Commonwealth Office Director for South Asia and Afghanistan. Mr Bayley joined the Foreign & Commonwealth Office in 1995. He has worked on the Middle East and North Africa, the United Nations, EU Common Foreign and Security Policy and Conflict/Post-Conflict Transition. Mr Bayley was the UK Special Representative for Syria from October 2014 to October 2017.

The UK welcomes the Tashkent Conference on 27 March as the opportunity to support the Afghan government’s initiative, and cement closer ties and cooperation within the region of Central South Asia.

Achieving peace in Afghanistan is possible and in the interests of the region and the international community. This can only be done through an Afghan-led process with international support.