About 50% of Afghan imports - food, medicine and oil products - go through Uzbekistan
30/11/2021 16:05
About 50% of Afghan imports - food, medicine and oil products - go through Uzbekistan
30/11/2021 16:05
Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) – On 30 November 2021, an online conference was held on the topic: "New political reality in Afghanistan: prospects for cooperation between Uzbekistan and Japan."
Speaking at the event, the first deputy director of the Institute for Strategic and Interregional Studies, Akramjon Nematov, noted that Uzbekistan, as a closest neighbor, opposes the isolation of Afghanistan. The boycott of the Taliban in the 1990s did not pay off.
On the contrary, according to a representative of the ISMI, this is counterproductive and will lead to an aggravation of the socio-economic situation, a crisis of statehood, the spread of chaos throughout the country, and ultimately to a new round of a protracted civil war. All this will fall heavily pregnant on the shoulders of the ordinary Afghan people.
It is also fraught with the flow of refugees, the overflow of terrorist and extremist challenges to neighboring states, and the transformation of Afghanistan into a source of permanent threats to the international community.
According to the expert, the experience of previous years and the current situation require maintaining a constructive dialogue with the new authorities of Afghanistan in order to create conditions that can transform the new government into a responsible legitimate political force striving to live in peace and harmony with neighbors and the international community.
It was noted that this format of interaction makes it possible to most effectively promote inter-Afghan reconciliation and promote the need for broad representation of all layers of Afghan society in the political process, as well as contribute to ensuring fundamental human rights, especially women and national minorities, as important conditions for achieving national accord, restoring statehood and lasting peace in the country.
In addition, thanks to the pragmatic dialogue, the readiness of the new authorities to suppress the use of the territory of Afghanistan for subversive actions against neighboring states is increasing. This is evidenced by the repeated statements of the new leadership about "firm and concrete guarantees" to prevent the emergence of threats to the countries of the region and the danger to the international community from Afghanistan.
Moreover, the dialogue with the new government allows to expand the scale of humanitarian assistance from the international community, directed to the needs of vulnerable segments of the population, especially women and children.
Taking into account the above, according to A. Nematov, it is advisable to pursue a constructive and consolidated policy towards Afghanistan, to mobilize the efforts of the international community to assist the Afghan people in overcoming the humanitarian crisis.
It is important to unfreeze Afghanistan’s international assets, which will be used for social needs, in particular, to pay the salaries of teachers, doctors, representatives of the social sphere, as well as indigent citizens of the country.
Uzbekistan was one of the first to send humanitarian aid to the Afghan people. 25 wagons of medicines, food, clothing were distributed among the needy segments of the population, primarily in the northern provinces of the country. In addition, the main UN logistics center began operating in Termez to provide assistance to Afghanistan. Work has also begun on the reconstruction of the airport in Mazar-i-Sharif, which should become an important link in the delivery and distribution of humanitarian cargo. Today, our country continues to cover more than 50% of Afghanistan’s electricity imports, thanks to which social facilities function there, and, despite the difficult situation, ensures the functioning of the Uzbek-Afghan transport hub, through which about 50% of Afghan imports - food, medicine and oil products - go in transit.
This to some extent relieves the acuteness of the socio-economic and humanitarian crisis, but is not sufficient for long-term stabilization of the situation in the neighboring country.
In this regard, as the expert emphasized, "it is necessary to develop a long-term post-conflict strategy with regard to Afghanistan, which will create the necessary prerequisites for the formation of Afghanistan as a peaceful, stable and prosperous country, free from terrorism, wars and drugs."
At the same time, the priority should be a more active involvement of Afghanistan in regional trade and economic ties, the implementation of large infrastructure and socially significant projects in this country, primarily in the areas of trade, transport, energy, agriculture and healthcare. They will create additional jobs, alternative sources of income for the population and, as a result, contribute to the elimination of the social underpinnings of the conflict.
“In general, the stabilization of the situation in Afghanistan will create a very important precedent for the coordination of international efforts in solving regional security and development problems,” concluded Akramjon Nematov.
The event was organized by the Institute for Strategic and Interregional research under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan in conjunction with the Japanese Institute of International Relations with the support of the Embassy of Uzbekistan in Japan. It was attended by experts from leading Japanese think tanks, in particular the Sasakawa Peace Foundation, the Institute for the Study of the Middle East, and the University of Sofia.
The Uzbek side was represented by the leaders and researchers of the ISMI, MICA, IACMO.
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