Afghan youth will be trained in two, four and six-year full-time study
programs in 17 subject areas of higher and 16 of secondary
specialized education. During the opening ceremony of the Center, the
first 110 Afghan students were enrolled onto the Uzbek language and
literature course. In the nearest future, it is planned to increase the
students number up to 300.
A new impetus was given to the interaction between the law enforcement agencies of
Uzbekistan and Afghanistan to discuss problems of regional security. In particular, in February
of this year the first meeting of the Uzbek-Afghan joint commission on security issues was held
in Tashkent/
Uzbekistan also takes specific political and diplomatic
measures aimed at peaceful settlement of the Afghan crisis.
The international conference on Afghanistan “Peace process,
cooperation in the sphere of security and regional interaction”
was held in Tashkent on March 27 this year.
The event attracted close attention of the majority
representatives of policy making circles of foreign countries. In
this regard, I would like to note that the proposal to hold an
international conference in Uzbekistan and the need to combine efforts aimed at ensuring peace
and stability in Afghanistan are conditioned by the following factors:
First, the initiative to hold this conference is an integral part of Uzbekistan's overall strategy
to ensure regional security and stability;
Second, for thousands of years, the peoples of Uzbekistan and Afghanistan lived in one
cultural and civilizational space. Today, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan have close political, trade-
economic and cultural ties;
Third, Uzbekistan's commitment to the principle of indivisibility of security is vital. From this
point of view, we consider the security of Afghanistan as the security of Uzbekistan, the
guarantee of stability and prosperity of the entire the region of Central and South Asia;
Fourth, Uzbekistan has experience in promoting peace process in Afghanistan. In 1999, in
Tashkent, by the initiative of the Uzbek side, the “6+2” Group met bringing heads of foreign
affairs agencies of the neighboring countries of Afghanistan, Russia and the United States. The
representatives of the Northern Alliance and the Taliban movement were also participated in this
meeting.
Following the talks, the Tashkent Declaration on the Basic Principles for the Peaceful
Settlement of the Conflict in Afghanistan was adopted, which became the only official document
agreed and accepted by all domestic political forces of this long-suffering country, and approved
by the UN.
Within the framework of Tashkent Conference on Afghanistan participants of the event
adopted the final declaration, which includes the following : 1) supporting the proposals of
Afghan government on launching direct negotiations with Taliban without any preconditions;
2) guaranteeing the inclusion of the Taliban in the political process as a legitimate political actor;
3) adopting a “road map” by international community in order to assist the process of national
reconciliation and socio-economic development in Afghanistan; 4) recognizing the importance of
international and regional initiatives to ensure peace and stability in Afghanistan.
In this context, we consider the active participation of the Indian delegation with the head
of the state foreign minister Mubashir Dzhaved Akbar at the international conference on
Afghanistan in Tashkent, to be an important factor in consolidating the efforts of the international
community in establishing peace and stability in Afghanistan.
As possible areas of interaction in the Afghan direction, I would like to note the following:
The first factor is India's participation in the construction of the Mazar-i-Sharif-Herat railway.
This project is a continuation of the previously constructed first railway line “Hairaton-Mazari-
Sharif” by Uzbekistan, which is important for the economy of Afghanistan. The creation of the
transport corridor Mazari-Sharif-Herat with an access to the Iranian ports Chabahar and Bandar
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