In a statement delivered at the International High-Level Conference on Afghanistan in Tashkent, Tajik Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Aslov on March27 called upon international community to take measure to prevent the delivery of weapons to militants in Afghanistan.
“International community should take adequate measures to prevent the delivery of weapons to terrorist and extremist groups in Afghanistan,” Tajik foreign minister said.
In his statement, Sirojiddin Aslov also touched upon the issue of movement of Afghan militants to the northern part of Afghanistan.
“The movement of terrorists to the northern provinces of Afghanistan evokes serious concern of Tajikistan,” Tajik foreign minister noted.
The International High-Level Conference on Afghanistan entitled “Peace Process, Cooperation in the Sphere of Security and the Regional Cooperation” took place in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent, on March 26-27.
This two-day conference is part of efforts to encourage the Afghan government and the Taliban to engage in peace talks.
The conference was attended by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, European Union foreign-policy chief Federica Mogherini, and a number of foreign ministers, including Sergei Lavrov of Russia, Wang Yi of China, and Turkey's Mevlut Cavusoglu.
The United States was represented by Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Thomas Shannon.
A joint declaration issued at the end of the March 27 meeting noted the signatories' strong backing for the National Unity Government's offer to launch direct talks with the Taliban, without any preconditions.
They also called upon the Taliban to accept this offer for a peace process that is Afghan-led and Afghan-owned.
Meanwhile, representatives of both Washington and NATO have accused Russia of supplying military aid to Taliban. Moscow has rejected the claims.
Recall, the head of US forces in Afghanistan told the BBC in an exclusive interview on March 23 that Russia is supporting and even supplying arms to the Taliban. General John Nicholson said he'd seen "destabilizing activity by the Russians." He said Russian weapons were smuggled across the Tajik border to the Taliban, but could not say in what quantity.
Russia has denied such US allegations in the past, citing a lack of evidence. A statement from the Russian Embassy in Kabul dismissed the comments as "idle gossip", repeating previous denials by Russian officials.
In a statement released on March 26, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan “the groundless statement made by Gen John Nicholson, the Head of the US forces in Afghanistan, in his exclusive interview to the BBC (on 23 March 2018) on the allegedly deliveries of weapons to the Taliban movement across the border of Tajikistan is deeply regrettable.”
The statement by the Tajik MFA notes that Tajikistan has never recognized the legitimacy of the Taliban Movement, and, being a supporter of measures for early peaceful settlement of the Afghan conflict, has never provided its territory to the third countries for implementation of such actions contrary to the fundamental approaches and the principle position of the country on issues of peace and security.
