CSTO security alliance meets on Afghanistan

KABUL (Agencies): The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CST) said that its 37th meeting of the Working Group on Afghanistan was held.
The event was attended by delegations from the organization’s member states, the CSTO Deputy Secretary General S. I. Ordabaev, Charge d’Affaires of Afghanistan in the Russian Federation, representatives of the United Nations Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia and others.
“There was a detailed exchange of views on the situation in Afghanistan. The participants noted the persistence of unfavorable trends in the security situation, including the growth of terrorist and drug threats emanating from the territory of this country. It was noted that Afghanistan was still in a difficult economic situation and the Afghan people were facing problems in the social and humanitarian sphere,” CSTO said in a statement.
The Islamic Emirate, however, rejects claim of growth of terrorist and drug threats emanating from Afghanistan.
“The concern expressed by the CSTO is not true. Afghanistan is now secure and stable. It is completely different from years ago. The people of Afghanistan and the world understand this. Misrepresenting the situation means they are not considering the facts. The rumors that are being spread are based on false information,” Zabihullah Mujahid, IEA’s spokesman said. CSTO is an intergovernmental military alliance in Eurasia consisting of six post-Soviet states: Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan.
Separately, Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Iranian counterpart Mohammed Reza Gharaei Ashtiyani on Thursday exchanged views on regional security issues, including peace and stability in Afghanistan.
They also discussed the development of the International North South Transport Corridor to ease logistic problems to Afghanistan and other countries in Central Asia, India’s defense ministry said. The INSTC is a 7,200-km-long multi-mode transport project for moving freight among India, Iran, Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia, Central Asia and Europe.