DUSHANBE, August 18, 2010, Asia-Plus — If the world’s superpowers, including Russia, really want peace and stability in Afghanistan and Pakistan, they must review their attitude to these countries and concentrate on boosting economic cooperation with them, Firouz Saidov, a lead specialist from the Center for Strategic Studies under the President of Tajikistan, said in an interview with Asia-Plus, commenting on a quadrilateral meeting of the heads of state of Russia, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan in Sochi.
According to him, it is impossible to defeat terrorism, extremism and drug trafficking in these countries until economic problems of Afghanistan and western Pakistan are solved.
“Today, economic problems of Afghanistan and Pakistan could be solved through supplying electric power to these countries; Tajikistan plans to launch this project in the coming years, but the superpowers are still holding a long pause for some reason, while the United States is spending billions of dollars every year for war on terrorism in Afghanistan,” the expert from Tajik think tank noted.
Saidov considers that time has come for the United States, China, Russia, and the European Union to pay special attention to development of the economies, agrarian and energy sectors of Afghanistan and Pakistan.
“I hope the quadrilateral meeting in Sochi will promote making the first step towards finding solution to the economic and water-and-energy problems in our region,” he added.
