On the invitation of the President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov the official visit of the President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov to Uzbekistan took place on February 24-25.
The outcomes of the negotiations were discussed at a news conference the presidents held during which the sides assessed the state and prospects of bilateral relations, discussed situation in the Central Asian region, as well as expressed their vision of the ways and mechanisms of addressing the pressing regional and international issues. A particular attention was paid to resolving the Afghan problem and the management of water resources in Central Asia.
Assessing the situation in Afghanistan President Karimov said that as early as in April 2008 at the NATO/EAPC Bucharest Summit Uzbekistan made proposals the essence of which is as follows:
First. There is no military solution to the Afghan problem. This stance is acquiring a growing support on the part of the states involved in peace-making operation in Afghanistan.
Second, a serious attention should be paid to the solution of pressing social problems associated with poverty and unemployment. During 30 years of war the living standards and social state of the Afghans have worsened; the unemployment rate reached 60-70 percent. In such circumstances, various segments of the population and, above all, young people are forced to seek sources of means for existence. This creates a fertile ground for recruitment into the ranks of Taliban and other groups, as well as to encourage the active involvement in drug trafficking.
President Karimov noted that the Afghan problem cannot be solved ignoring the opinion of people, religious and national peculiarities of the Afghans.
Afghanistan is a multi-faith, multiethnic state, which is inhabited by different ethnicities that have their own approaches to resolving the problems of this country. The historical experience of various wars in Afghanistan with involvement of external forces has clearly demonstrated that it is necessary to take into account the peoples mentality and their religiousness, and respect, but not defy this religion.
Regarding the resumption of activity of the 6+2 Contact Group on Afghanistan, which operated under the UN auspices, the Uzbek Leader pointed to the necessity of its expansion by converting it into 6+3 format, consisting of six states bordering on Afghanistan, as well as the US and Russia, with inclusion of NATO, which is the active participant in the international coalition. The meaning of this initiative is as follows this problem cannot be solved without participation of countries surrounding Afghanistan, which are suffering this calamity more than others for 30 years.
In this regard, in any case, in one form or another, this decision will be taken since without such approach resolution of the Afghan problem is impossible. If the issues related to comprehensive solution of the Afghan problem are not going to be resolved it can be even worse and those countries, whose troops are in Afghanistan as peacekeeping forces, tomorrow will turn into occupants.
Uzbekistan continues to contribute to stabilization of the situation in Afghanistan, particularly, in the form of participation in projects on supply of electricity power, construction of Termez - Mazari-Sharif railroad via Khayraton, where the main contractor will be the Uzbek side.
Speaking about the transit of goods through Uzbekistan, President Karimov said that during the recent visit of the Commander of Central Command of the US Armed Forces General David Petraeus to Uzbekistan, an agreement was reached on implementing the transit of the non-military goods by the US through the territory of Uzbekistan to Afghanistan on the conditions of strict compliance with laws functioning on the territory of Uzbekistan.
Referring to the situation related to coverage of the issues of non-military goods transit by foreign media, President Karimov has underscored: ... We are ready to participate in the transit of non-military cargo through the territory of Uzbekistan. Many countries say yes, so we are?.