Uzbekistan Ready to Host Kabul – Taliban Direct Talks
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan Abdulaziz Kamilov during a meeting with UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan Tadamichi Yamamoto said that his country is ready to host Afghan government and Taliban group direct talks, the Uzbek Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan Abdulaziz Kamilov during a meeting with UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan Tadamichi Yamamoto said that his country is ready to host Afghan government and Taliban group direct talks, the Uzbek Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
At the meeting, views were exchanged on key areas of cooperation between Uzbekistan and UNAMA, including in the sphere of ensuring security and sustainable development, establishment of peace and stability in Afghanistan.
According to the statement, Tadamichi Yamamoto emphasized that the UN and its institutions, in particular UNAMA, welcomes and supports the consistent policy of Uzbekistan led by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev on launching the peace process in Afghanistan and its socio-economic revival, implementation of infrastructure projects, as well as efforts on engaging in regional cooperation.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs noted that the Uzbek side is ready to create all necessary conditions for organizing direct negotiations in the country between the Government of Afghanistan and the Taliban movement at any stage of the peace process.
Meanwhile, former Afghan president Hamid Karzai is said to visit Uzbekistan in the coming days.
It is worth mentioning that in 2018, Tashkent hosted a high-level international conference on Afghanistan titled “Peace Process, Cooperation in the Sphere of Security and Regional Interaction” where the participants called for an urgent start of direct talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban movement.
