DUSHANBE, July 21, 2010, Asia-Plus — Tajikistan is undertaking efforts to contribute to establishment of peace and accord in Afghanistan.
According to the Tajik MFA information department, Tajik Foreign Minister Hamrokhon Zarifi remarked this in Kabul yesterday while addressing an international donors conference.
He noted that Afghan law enforcement and power-wielding structures had urgent needs in skilled specialists along with technical equipment. Tajikistan is ready to provide its existing resources for training of personnel for Afghan power-wielding agencies in Tajikistan, Zarifi said.
Tajik FM stressed that Tajikistan proposed to draw attention once more to the formation of “security belt” around Afghanistan.
Zarifi also drew attention of those present to the necessity of solving economic problems facing Afghanistan. He noted that construction of hydropower plants in Tajikistan would help development of new lands in Afghanistan and construction of irrigation systems on those lands. Rational use of Afghanistan’s agricultural potential would not only promote improvement of food security of Afghanistan itself, it would also promote providing regional markets with farm produce. Therefore, construction of a 125 MW Sanobod hydropower plant in Tajikistan’s Gorno Badakhshan and construction of a more than 4,000 MW Dashtijum hydropower plant on the Panj River in Tajikistan in the future would promote providing Afghanistan with electricity and developing new lands in this country, Zarifi stressed.
Another important factor providing sustainable development is involvement of Afghanistan in the process of regional integration through economic and trade cooperation with neighboring countries. Opening of new transportation and communications routes and strengthening of capacities of existing transportation corridors by means of construction of new highways and railway links via Afghanistan meet integration process and our common goal – providing peace, stability and development in the country and the region as a whole.
Tajikistan supports all infrastructure development projects in Afghanistan and the region. Rail route from Sherkhan Bandar to Herat, to which branch lines Khairatan-Mazari Sharif, Akina-Shibirghan and Turgundi-Kushka will be connected in the future, has already been studied and requires further specific steps. Connection of Sherkhan Bandar to Panji Poyon (Tajikistan), Khairatan to Mazar-i Sharif, Akina to Imamnazar (Turkmenistan), Turgundi to Kushka (Turkmenistan), and Herat to Tubad (Iran) will transform this route into the transit main that will yield a good return to Afghanistan’s budget, the Tajik minister noted.
He also underlined the significance of projects for construction of transit power transmission lines such as the Central Asia and South Asia electricity transmission and trade project (CASA 1000) and the power transmission line Sangtuda-Mazari Sharif-Herat-Mashhad.
International media report that the international conference in Kabul has endorsed sweeping Afghan government plans to take responsibility for security across the country by 2014, as well as efforts to forge peace with extremist militants and take greater control of aid projects.
Karzai vowed to conference participants that Afghan police and soldiers will be ready to take charge of security throughout Afghanistan by 2014. Karzai also said Kabul wants more control over the disbursement of billions of dollars in development aid sent to Afghanistan by donor countries. He said donor funds need to be spent on Afghanistan”s priorities rather than what he called “quick-impact” projects.
