The two-day Council of Foreign Ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) began Friday in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan.
Some countries in the SCO expressed their concern about what they consider to be the possibility of terrorist threats from Afghanistan.
The foreign ministers of China, India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan will talk about significant regional and international issues during this summit, including regional security challenges.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Tajikistan, Sirojiddin Muhriddin, said that with the fall of the previous government in Afghanistan, better conditions have been provided for the activities of terrorist groups.
“We are all concerned about Afghanistan, because terrorist groups still operating in better conditions there, and their actions pose a serious threat to the countries of Central Asia because they have also led to drug trafficking. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization should act immediately on this issue,” Muhriddin said.
Sergey Lavrov, the foreign minister of Russia, on the sidelines of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) said that Russia will work closely with Uzbekistan to find solutions to Afghanistan’s problems.
“Today we stated that these efforts (of Uzbekistan), the efforts of the Russian Federation within the framework of the so-called Moscow format, the efforts of the People’s Republic of China, which regularly holds meetings of Afghanistan’s neighbours, are all complementary work. With each such event, we take several steps forward. We have a very close position with our Uzbek friends regarding the need to recognize the current realities in Afghanistan and work with the current leadership based on these realities,” Lavrov said.
These concerns are raised as Amir Khan Muttaqi, Afghanistan’s acting foreign affairs minister, is now in Uzbekistan following the Tashkent International Summit on Afghanistan.
“The government of Afghanistan has not gained legitimacy from the world, that is why the current officials have failed to satisfy the world in this regard,” said Ahmad Khan Andar, political analyst.
This week, the city also hosted the Tashkent International Conference on Afghanistan with the participation of 20 countries and international organizations.
