DUSHANBE, November 8, 2011, Asia-Plus — The Obama administration welcomed the declaration, adopted at the end of the international conference on Afghanistan in Istanbul, Turkey, last week where ministerial delegations from all five Central Asian countries participated along with all other Afghanistan’s neighbors, Silk Road Newsline said.
“The United States welcomes agreement between Afghanistan, its neighbors, and the wider region on the Istanbul Process on Regional Security and Cooperation for a Secure and Stable Afghanistan,” Victoria Nuland, U.S. Department of State spokesperson, said in a statement released in Washington.
Afghanistan’s neighbors, Nuland said, “have endorsed Afghan priorities including Afghan-led reconciliation, transition to Afghan security leadership, and regionally integrated economic growth (e.g, the New Silk Road vision).”
“The United States was pleased to participate in the Istanbul conference as a supporter of the process, and we will continue to offer our support to Afghanistan and its region as they work to follow on from the commitments in the declaration to deepen regional cooperation,” Nuland stressed.
According to the text of the Istanbul Declaration, release by the Government of Turkey, all participants pledged to widen “support for Tajikistan`s efforts to conduct the 5th Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan (RECCA V) which is planned to be held on March 26-27, 2012 in Dushanbe.”
“Amongst other agenda items, the Conference will consider the proposal from Afghanistan and Tajikistan on enhancing trade connectivity along historical trade routes. On the margins of the RECCA V, we support the organization of a business forum and a forum of scientists and researchers,” the Declaration said.
Istanbul Conference participants also supported “Afghanistan’s role as a land-bridge, connecting the region through cooperation and completion of bridges on trans-boundary rivers, roads and railway networks; in this connection, focusing on construction of new automobile bridges over the Panj River in Kokul and Ayvaj fields of Tajikistan and supporting the implementation of the project on a railway route from East, Central, South and West Asia and to the sea routes through Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Afghanistan with existing Uzbekistan-Afghanistan railway being connected to a prospective Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Afghanistan railway, and supporting the implementation of the project on a railway route from Iran to Afghanistan, the Khaf-Herat Railway.”
They also pledged “cooperation on easier flow of energy resources within, from and across the region, especially with regard to electricity, minerals, oil and gas, including their exploitation and transit, through regional projects, such as TAPI, and CASA-1000 project which has to be implemented with a broader financial contribution, as well as the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and the Islamic Development Bank.”
Speaking to reporters in Washington, Nuland pointed to deepening rapprochement between India and Pakistan on trade issues as an important example for the entire region.
“This is a very, very big deal, very important, could lead to really great economic opportunities for both India and Pakistan, sets the kind of example within the Silk Road family that we would like to see throughout that region,” she said. “We’d like to see the opening of trade relations because this will bring prosperity to everybody, break down old barriers, really lift all boats in the region, and make the region even more vital as a center of global commerce.”
The Istanbul Conference Declaration was signed by Afghanistan, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and the United Arab Emirates.
It was welcomed and supported by Australia, Canada, Egypt, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States as well as the United Nations, Economic Cooperation Organization, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Shanghai Cooperation Organization, South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, Organization for Islamic Cooperation and the European Union.
“A tremendous amount of intensive work went into preparing the Istanbul Conference document,” Afghanistan’s foreign minister and co-chair of the conference, Zalmai Rassoul, told reporters in Istanbul at the conclusion of the meetings. “We want to thank each participating country for their active, constructive and effective contribution to the process.”
