Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Uzbekistan remains interested in large projects in Afghanistan. This was stated by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan Abdulaziz Kamilov in an interview with Russian media.

“The agenda includes such large strategic projects in the areas of transport communications and energy,” he said.

According to him, the construction project of the Surkhan-Puli-Khumri power transmission line has been practically completed. Even with the current economic system, we will be able to complete it and implement it.

“The Taliban promised to render all possible assistance in ensuring the safety of the functioning and bringing to mind this project,” Kamilov said.

“Regarding the project of the railway from Central Asia to Mazar-i-Sharif, Uzbek specialists built it in due time. We are talking about a branch to Kabul and Peshawar. We have already discussed this issue at a serious international level. I would like to tell you about the reaction of the international community to these projects with a few examples, ”the Foreign Minister noted.

“The World Bank promised to prepare a feasibility study for the project. Work in this direction has already begun. The bank is ready to allocate appropriate funds for the preparation of this document,” said Abdulaziz Kamilov.

According to him, the Islamic Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, as well as individual Gulf states that have sufficient financial resources, expressed their readiness to assist in the implementation of the project. "Pakistan expressed its support in the person of Prime Minister Imran Khan and the rest of the country's leadership," Kamilov added.

“The project will be extremely important for stabilizing the situation, since Afghanistan, finding itself between two huge regions, like Central and South Asia, will receive sufficient profit from transit and trade. This will help the country to get involved in regional integration and economic projects,” the minister said.

“We will work to implement projects. At the same time, everything will depend on how much the Taliban movement, the interim government will firmly stand on its feet, and will be able to fulfill the requirements set by the international community: inclusive government, fundamental human rights, women, girls, good neighborliness, prevention of terrorist "inclinations" and terrorist activities on the territory of Afghanistan itself,” said Abdulaziz Kamilov.

“Thus, the interest in the projects remains, and we hope that we will be able to implement them. In the case of the railway, we have a pragmatic interest: for Uzbekistan, like other Central Asian states, a huge market with a population of 2 billion people is opening up. It must be said frankly that no one is waiting for our products in Europe or America; we cannot compare with them in terms of technological level and quality. And this is near. It seems that Central Asia is far from South. As the Minister of Transport of Afghanistan told me in due time, if there is a railway, it will take two and a half days to get from Central Asia to Peshawar,” the minister stressed.