Afghanistan

#Kazakhstan can have impact on peaceful process in #Afghanistan

Published

8 years ago

November 22, 2018

The European Union is interested in Kazakhstan's active engagement in the Afghan regulation process, EU Special Envoy for Afghanistan Roland Kobia said in an interview with Kazinform on the sidelines of the conference in EP on Joint Vision of Afghanistan.

The event was organized by South Asia Democratic Forum think tank. Deputies of the European Parliament, representatives of the European Commission, mass media, diplomatic corps accredited in the EU attended the conference.

In his opinion, Kazakhstan is given a special role in the new EU Strategy on Extended Cooperation of Europe and Asia, since it connects not only Central Asia, but also Afghanistan and other countries. Roland Kobia plans to visit Kazakhstan in the nearest outlook to discuss joint work within the cooperation between Afghanistan, European Union and Central Asian countries.

The speaker offered some propositions on Kazakhstan's involvement in political regulation and rehabilitation of Afghanistan. He said that "Kazakhstan can have an impact on the peaceful process in Afghanistan".

"Kazakhstan can become a unifying factor here," he said. "Kazakhstan is seen as a giant when we speak about oil and gas. Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and other countries need energy. There is the TAPI gas pipeline project, but why don't we consider the possibility of delivering oil and gas from Kazakhstan to South Asia?"

When the reconstruction of Afghanistan begins, the country will be in desperate need of energy supply, he added. Besides, the programme of teaching Afghan women at Kazakh universities is of paramount importance for Afghanistan, Kobia said.

The point at issue is the trilateral cooperation of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan on teaching Afghan girls at Kazakh and Uzbek higher education institutions under the EU support. In general, the conference participants discussed the issues of co-operation in security, peaceful regulation and international support of development and reconstruction of Afghanistan.

Special attention was given to Uzbekistan's role in stabilization of Afghanistan. Special Envoy of the Uzbek President for Afghanistan Ismatulla Irgashev noted that Tashkent consistently strengthens the bilateral relations with Kabul and actively implements a number of infrastructure projects which are of great socio-economic importance for the country.

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