DUSHANBE, August 29, 2008, Asia-Plus — A tripartite meeting of the presidents of Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Iran was held in Dushanbe on August 28.
According to presidential press service, in the course of the talks, Emomali Rahmon, Hamid Karzai, and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad discussed a number of projects for tripartite and regional cooperation.
The heads of state first met in narrow, and then an enlarged meeting with participation of the delegations of the tree countries was held.
During the meeting, it was noted that implementation of projects for construction of tunnels, bridges, Tajikistan-Afghanistan-Iran highway, and a railway link connecting Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Iran as well as power grids from Tajikistan to Iran and Pakistan via Afghanistan will boost trade, increase exports and ease transit costs in the region, as well as expand passenger traffic, and raise wellbeing of the population of the region.
The sides also noted that implementation of those project would support reconstruction of Afghanistan’s economy and reestablishment of peace and stability there.
The negotiations ended with signing of two documents on trilateral cooperation and one document on bilateral cooperation between Tajikistan and Iran: a memorandum on trilateral cooperation in the field of energy; a joint statement of Emomali Rahmon, Hamid Karzai and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on the results of the meeting; and a memorandum on completion of construction works at the Istiqlol tunnel in Tajikistan.
In the meantime, Iran’s news agency IRNA reported that Tajik Minister of Energy and Industries Gul Sherali and visiting Iran’s Minister of Energy Parvis Fattah met yesterday to discuss ways too cooperate on energy. The two discussed issues related to construction of electricity-transmission line between the two countries as well as implementation of Sangtuda-2 hydroelectricity project.
