Special US Representative for Afghanistan, Thomas West, made a visit to Astana to participate in a special C5+1 session on Afghanistan, as reported by Sputnik with reference to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan.
Diplomats from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and the USA discussed several issues related to humanitarian assistance, human rights protection, international cooperation with Afghanistan, as well as security and counterterrorism measures.
Ambassador at Large of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, Talgat Kaliev, emphasized the importance of a unified and coordinated pragmatic approach to stabilizing the situation in Afghanistan.
The US special envoy held a meeting with Kazakhstan's First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kayrat Umarov. During the meeting, the American side appreciated Kazakhstan's efforts in providing assistance to the Afghan people and noted measures taken to stabilize the social and economic situation.
Umarov highlighted that Kazakhstan supports the consolidation of international efforts to assist Afghanistan and find ways to address the complex humanitarian crisis.
In particular, attention was drawn to the initiative of Kazakhstan's President, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, regarding the establishment of the UN Regional Center for Sustainable Development in Almaty. This center aims to facilitate cooperation between Central Asian countries and Afghanistan in the fields of socio-economic and trade and investment development.
C5+1 is a regional diplomatic platform founded in 2015 for the interaction of five Central Asian countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan) with the USA in areas of mutual interest, including trade and economics.
CentralasianLIGHT.org,
July 28, 2023.