DUSHANBE, March 17, 2011, Asia-Plus — Two-day consultations between heads of appropriate subdivisions within the foreign ministries of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Russia and Tajikistan to consider the draft agenda of the upcoming meeting of leaders of these nations have concluded in Dushanbe, according to the Tajik MFA information department.
The sides discussed prospects of further expansion of cooperation between Afghanistan, Pakistan, Russia and Tajikistan in strengthening regional security and promoting regional trade. They also considered issues related to creation of favorable investment climate and holding of conferences with participation of representatives of the business communities of the four nations.
Touching upon the issues of implementation of regional energy, transportation and infrastructure development projects, the consultations participants pointed to the necessity of applying to international financial institutions over activating support for implementation of regional projects, including the Central Asia-South Asia Regional Energy and Trade (CASA-1000) project.
A special attention was paid to expansion of close cooperation between the law enforcement agencies of the four nations in addressing threats of terrorism, extremism and drug crime, the source said. In this connection, the sides underlined the importance of use of existing capacities of the countries to carry out joint anti-terror exercises and operations and intensify work on training of personnel for the law enforcement agencies of the four countries.
