DUSHANBE, April 28, 2013, Asia-Plus – Tajik Foreign Minister Hamrokhon Zarifi held a number of bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the 3rd Ministerial Meeting of the Istanbul Process on regional Security and Cooperation for a Secure and Stable Afghanistan (Istanbul Process) that took place in Almaty, Kazakhstan on April 26.

Zarifi’s discussions with Mr. Lamberto Zannier, Secretary-General of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) focused on bilateral cooperation between Tajikistan and the OSCE against the backcloth of the current situation in Afghanistan, according to the Tajik MFA information department.

In this context, Tajik minister reportedly underlined the significance of cooperation between Tajikistan and the OSCE in implementing project to strengthen border security and control.

While in Almaty, Zarifi also held talks with Baroness Sayeeda Hussain Warsi, Senior Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Minister for Faith and Communities.

The two reportedly discussed issues related to state and prospects of further expansion of bilateral cooperation between Tajikistan and the United Kingdom in different fields.  They also exchanged views on the ways of settlement of the Afghan conflict.

According to some media sources, more than 50 delegations, led by the foreign ministers of the participating states, supporting countries and heads of international organizations, attended the Almaty Conference.  The participants fully supported the plans of the regional countries to cooperate on Afghanistan and confirmed their willingness to purposefully expand and deepen regional cooperation based on the principles of friendship, respect and mutual benefit

In his welcoming remarks, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev highlighted the importance of regional cooperation and outlined Kazakhstan’s role in the international community’s plans on Afghanistan. He noted that Kazakhstan had been providing political, economic and humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan starting from the 1990s directly or through international efforts.

Following the Conference, the participants adopted a final declaration, in which the parties confirmed their intention to continue to support Afghanistan’s engagement in the economic and political life of the region.  The Conference participants highlighted the importance of these measures in the context of the withdrawal of International Security Assistance Forces from Afghanistan.  They also adopted specific action plans for each of the six packages of the confidence-building measures of the Istanbul Process.

In accordance with the adopted Declaration, the next Conference of the foreign ministers of the Istanbul Process on Afghanistan will be held in China in 2014.  

Launched on November 2, 2011 at the foreign ministers’ meeting in Istanbul, the Istanbul Process is aimed to foster confidence and increase trust among Afghanistan''s neighbors and other states involved in the stabilization of this country.  The first ministerial conference of the Istanbul Process was held in Kabul on June 14, 2012.