Following the talks and discussions in an atmosphere of confidence, multilateral understanding and constructive approach, the participants of the second foreign ministerial meeting of neighboring countries of Afghanistan plus Russia have adopted a joint statement.
The Foreign Ministers of China, Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan plus the Russian Federation held a meeting in Tehran on October 27.
The meeting was inaugurated by Mr. Mohammad Mokhber, the Vice-President of the Islamic Republic of Iran who gave a comprehensive speech on Afghanistan situation. The video message by Mr. Antonio Guterres, the Secretary General of the United Nations, was then screened in the opening.
The foreign ministers then gave their speeches on Afghanistan concerned matters. The meeting was then closed by approving the ministerial joint statement.
The Foreign Ministers:
Call on the relevant Afghan parties to implement modest and prudent internal and external policies, return to the normal order of the society as soon as possible, realize the effective operation of government agencies, provide basic public services to people, take actions to improve people's livelihood and protect the fundamental rights of ethnic groups, women and children in Afghanistan;
Take note the assurances and commitments of relevant responsible Afghan parties to the international community that the territory of Afghanistan will not pose any threats to the neighboring countries and will not be used by criminal, terrorist and separatist groups, and cut ties with all kinds of terrorist groups, strike and eliminate them in a decisive manner;
Call on the Afghan relevant parties to abide by their all undeniable responsibilities, take friendly approach toward neighboring countries and respect recognized universally accepted principles of international law and fundamental human rights and protect the safety and legitimate rights of foreign nationals and institutions in Afghanistan;
Encourage the relevant Afghan parties to confront various threats and challenges including terrorism, drug smuggling and human trafficking, crack down on organized crime and other criminal acts originating from Afghanistan and taking into consideration the terrorism threats and counter-terrorism effectiveness in Afghanistan, discuss through bilateral or multilateral channels the possibility of restarting counter-terrorism cooperation with Afghanistan in due course;
Call on the relevant parties of Afghanistan and the international community to address the root causes of refugees and forced displacement in Afghanistan to avoid any destabilizing activity that would deteriorate the situation and cooperate to bring a permanent solution for the protracted situation of Afghan refugees;
Call on the international community and donor countries to provide continued, adequate and proportionate financial support to the host countries of Afghan refugees, especially the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and other neighboring countries of Afghanistan;
Call on the international community to further provide Afghanistan with more urgent humanitarian assistance including food, medicines, winter utilities etc., to prevent humanitarian crisis and refugee wave in Afghanistan, and prevent new shock to neighboring countries and the international community;
Start the function of the mechanism of regular meetings of Special Envoys (representatives) for Afghanistan affairs as well as regular meetings of the representatives of Embassies in Kabul at an early date (as mentioned in the first round of foreign minister's meeting joint statement) to jointly promote and hold consultations on details of relevant cooperation regularly for more concrete achievements;
Reiterate call on international community to remain positively engaged with Afghanistan and develop long term roadmap to advance the agenda of political engagement, economic integration and regional connectivity.
