DUSHANBE, July 10, 2012, Asia-Plus — On the sidelines of the Donors Conference for Afghanistan, Tajik Deputy Foreign minister Nizomiddin Zohidov held talks in Tokyo with Mr. Geoffrey R. Pyatt, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the South and Central Asian Affairs Bureau, the Tajik MFA information department said.
The two reportedly discussed issues related to cooperation between Tajikistan and the United States in the spheres of security, energy, protection of human rights and freedom of conscience, as well as reconstruction of Afghanistan’s economy.
During his stay in Tokyo, Zohidov also held talks with Lithuanian Deputy Foreign Minister Evaldas Ignatavichyus. Lithuanian official handed over to him invitation for Tajik foreign minister to attend an international conference on Afghanistan that would take place in Vilnius, Lithuania on September 14, 2012, the source said.
We will recall that donors at the Tokyo conference on Afghanistan have pledged to give it 16 billion U.S. dollars in civilian aid over four years, in an attempt to safeguard its future after foreign forces leave in 2014. The biggest donors, the US, Japan, Germany and the UK, led the way at the Tokyo meeting in offering funds. The pledge came as Afghanistan agreed to new conditions to deal with endemic corruption. Donors agreed to hold a follow-up conference in the UK in 2014.
