MOSCOW, March 27: Russia and Iran said on Friday that Afghanistan’s neighbours should play a stronger role in helping the country solve its problems and slow the spread of terrorism throughout the region.

Russia’s foreign minister and Iran’s deputy foreign minister spoke during a conference in Moscow that drew attention to Afghanistan’s neighbours ahead of a broader United Nations meeting next week.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and officials from the United States also were attending the meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, a group dominated by Russia and China.

“It’s completely natural that the SCO, which unites nearly all of Afghanistan’s neighbours, could not stand to the side of the collective efforts” to help Afghanistan, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told the conference.

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammed Mehdi Ahundzadeh told reporters that he hoped the organisation could come up with new ideas on Afghanistan’s future.

“Afghanistan and the region need new ideas. The people are fed up … the killing of the innocents,” he said. “We need to have a solution where regional countries should play the main role in addressing the problems of Afghanistan and mitigating the suffering of the people.”

Russia is also hoping to increase the clout of the Shanghai organisation, which also includes Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and China. The grouping has served as a vehicle for Moscow and Beijing to limit Western influence in Central Asia.—AP
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