Uzbekistan proposes to create an international negotiating group on Afghanistan

The President of Uzbekistan, speaking at the CICA summit, suggested that Asian countries apply to the UN General Assembly with the initiative to form a high-level international negotiating group for negotiations with the Afghan authorities.

President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev spoke at the VI meeting of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia, the press service of the head of state reported.

At the beginning of his speech, Shavkat Mirziyoyev emphasized: “Today we are witnessing a growing uncertainty in international relations and an unprecedented lack of communication and trust. All this undermines the foundations of multilateral cooperation, causes the escalation of conflicts and leads to systemic failures in the global economy.”

“The emerging new geopolitical reality has a negative impact on the stability of the entire Asian continent,” the head of state said. “Crisis situations directly affect the countries of Central Asia, slowing down our efforts to deepen economic integration.”

The President of Uzbekistan in his speech called for attention to a number of priority areas of cooperation.

The situation in Afghanistan requires special attention, he stressed. “Unfortunately, as a result of the emergence of other acute international problems, the issue of Afghanistan has been relegated to the background. We must not allow a repetition of the bitter experience of thirty years ago, when this country became a hotbed of international terrorism. We need to develop common and coordinated approaches to interaction with the interim government of Afghanistan,” said Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

The President of Uzbekistan proposed to consider the possibility of a joint appeal by Asian countries to the UN General Assembly with the initiative to form a high-level international negotiating group to prepare and agree with the Afghan authorities on an algorithm for the phased fulfillment of the obligations of the parties.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev also drew attention to the fact that countries are increasingly faced with a broad attack of radical ideas: “Destructive forces are actively attracting young people to extremist organizations using new methods of propaganda and ideological influence. In this regard, we need to establish systemic cooperation to protect the younger generation from radicalism, direct their energy and enthusiasm to creation.”

He suggested launching a new format - "Dialogue of Generations", which would help people of different ages to better understand each other and find solutions to the most pressing problems of youth. “We are ready to hold the first such meeting in Samarkand in April 2023 as part of the Young Leaders Forum,” the head of state said.

"The key issue on the agenda of today's meeting is the adaptation of our economies to the growing negative consequences of the global crisis," said Shavkat Mirziyoyev

According to the head of Uzbekistan, it is important to prevent the strengthening of protectionism, as well as the introduction of new restrictions that destabilize global markets and strengthen interconnectedness in the Asian region, primarily through the creation of production and logistics chains and transport corridors that effectively connect Central Asia with South and East Asia , as well as the Middle East

“Overcoming the challenges to sustainable development will be the promotion of the knowledge economy as the basis for the transition to a new stage of the global industrial revolution,” said Shavkat Mirziyoyev. “We consider it expedient to use the potential of innovation transfer more fully, to actively stimulate digitalization, the development of cloud technologies, artificial intelligence and the Internet of things.”

In these areas, Asian countries have every opportunity to jointly achieve global leadership, he added.

The President of Uzbekistan also noted that most Asian states are the main importers of food products and are acutely feeling the consequences of the food crisis. “The paradox lies in the fact that at the same time our countries are the world's leading food producers,” he stressed.

According to Shavkat Mirziyoyev, new approaches are especially needed today in such areas as:

• formation of sustainable food production patterns and optimal food delivery chains;

• harmonization of technical regulations for the growth of intra-regional trade;

• Creation of an integral system for monitoring food security in Asia.

The head of Uzbekistan proposed to discuss all these issues at the International Conference under the auspices of FAO, which will be held in Uzbekistan next year.

To solve the problems of ecology and climate change, Shavkat Mirziyoyev proposed to join forces and launch regular expert consultations within the framework of the Green Asia conceptual program on the intensive greening of our countries and support for vulnerable ecosystems.

Recall that the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia is an international forum aimed at expanding cooperation in the areas of security and stability, intensifying trade and economic partnership, and interaction in environmental issues. This year, the initiative to create this forum turned 30 years old.

The forum was attended by the heads of all Central Asian countries, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Iran, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Russia, Turkey and representatives of China and Vietnam.

Currently CICA members are 28 states. Another 9 countries and 5 international organizations have the status of observers. The supreme body of the CICA is the Summit of Heads of State and Government. Since 2020, Kazakhstan has been chairing the CICA.