Key actors invited to Tashkent event

Monitoring Desk

KABUL: Uzbekistan will host an international conference on peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan in Tashkent involving regional powers and representatives from the US, Russia and China.

The event in late March is aimed at exploring ways of bringing the Afghan government, the Taliban and other warring parties into direct peace talks, a Russian news agency reported on Saturday.

Uzbekistan’s Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov made the announcement after talks with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Friday, according to TASS. He said: “As for those who have already received invitations, we proceeded from an assumption that there are actual players that are rather deeply involved in this process…

“Therefore, we made a decision to invite Russia, China and the United States at a global level and Pakistan, Iran and India at a regional level,” the minister added. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, the United Nations, the European Union and some international organisations have been invited to the conference

The UK, Germany, France and Italy have also received invitations, according to the foreign minister, who said: “Taking into consideration the fact that we are located in the same region, all Central Asian states will be attending. Since President Donald Trump’s takeover, US policy on Afghanistan and the region had become more active and clearer, Kamilov Kamilov tohe Kamilov remarked.

Meanwhile, Russia supported Tashkent’s initiative to host the international conference on ‘Peace Process, Cooperation in the Sphere of Security and Regional Interaction.’ Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said: “The idea of holding the forum was put forward by our Uzbek friends at a special session of the United Nations Security Council in January.

“Today we have been discussing preparations for that milestone and major event,” Lavrov said, adding all current formats needed to be mobilised to push for a solution to the Afghan crisis. “Among them are so-called Moscow format and the SCO-Afghanistan Contact Group [Shanghai Cooperation Organization plus Afghanistan.”