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WASHINGTON / ISLAMABAD: The United States, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan have agreed in principle to establish a new quadrilateral diplomatic platform focused on enhancing regional connectivity, the US State Department announced on Friday.
A similar announcement was made by the Foreign Office in Islamabad.
The US State Department said that representatives of the four countries met in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, this week during an international conference on South and Central Asia’s regional connectivity.
“The parties consider long-term peace and stability in Afghanistan critical to regional connectivity and agree that peace and regional connectivity are mutually reinforcing,” it added.
Long-term stability termed critical for regional connectivity
Recognising the historic opportunity to open flourishing interregional trade routes, “the parties intend to cooperate to expand trade, build transit links, and strengthen business-to-business ties,” the State Department said.
The parties agreed to meet in the coming months to determine the modalities of this cooperation with mutual consensus.
Around 250 experts and 40 delegates from different countries participated in this two-day [July 15-16] conference, aimed at deepening trade and economic ties between South and Central Asian regions.
The participants noted that there could be no regional connectivity without peace in Afghanistan as it is the only country with substantial links to both regions.
Two senior officials — Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, the Homeland Security Adviser to President Joe Biden, and Zalmay Khalilzad, the president’s special representative for Afghanistan — also attended the conference.
“We have sought to engage them to deepen that cooperation, and importantly, to deepen that regional connectivity that is so important to many of our shared mutual interests,” said US State Department spokesperson Ned Price while explaining why the United States participated in the conference.
“It is certainly in the immediate interests of Afghanistan’s neighbours that Afghanistan see a future that one day is stable, peaceful and secure,” he added.
Meanwhile, US chargé d’affaires Angela Aggeler called on Chief of the Army Staff Gen Qamar Bajwa at the General Headquarters, Rawalpindi.
“During the meeting, matters of mutual interest, regional and current security situation in Afghanistan and bilateral cooperation in various fields were discussed,” an Inter-Services Public Relations statement said.
Gen Bajwa was quoted in the statement as telling Ms Aggeler that Pakistan desired bilateral engagement with US and wished for “long-term and multi-domain enduring relationship”.
It should be recalled that Pakistan and US are negotiating a new roadmap for broad-based ties. The idea is to expand the relations from just being Afghanistan-specific especially after the withdrawal of American forces from there.
Pakistan’s National Security Adviser Dr Moeed Yusuf and his American counterpart Jake Sullivan are the focal persons for the respective sides for this effort. The two had met in Geneva in May in which they had agreed on greater engagement and economic cooperation.
The roadmap envisages cooperation in commerce and trade; investment; vaccine manufacturing; climate change; defence sector; and promoting regional economic connectivity.
More frequent high-level engagement between the two countries is expected in the coming days.
The ISPR said that the US diplomat appreciated Pakistan’s efforts for peace and stability in the region, especially with regard to the Afghan peace process.
Published in Dawn, July 17th, 2021
