KYOTO, June 26: Foreign ministers from wealthy nations urged Afghanistan’s neighbours on Thursday to play “a constructive role” in stabilising the war-wracked nation and help it overcome the challenges of terrorism, insecurity and drug production.

“We agreed to step up support for tribal groups in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border areas,” said Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura told reporters, saying the ministers also endorsed some 150 development projects in those areas worth about US$4 billion.

A joint statement on Afghanistan, issued after a two-day meeting of ministers from the Group of Eight industrialised nations, also pledged a long-term commitment to support Kabul and urged the government to assume greater responsibility for its own security.

The session in the western Japanese city of Kyoto focused on the central Asian nation on Thursday, though international attention was riveted by North Korea’s long-awaited declaration of its nuclear weapons programs in Beijing.

The G-8 conference, which ends Friday afternoon, was also to include discussions on Iran’s uranium enrichment program, the furor over Zimbabwe’s presidential run-off election, and the troubled Middle East peace process.

Ministers from the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Russia and Canada on Thursday focused on efforts to stabilise Afghanistan’s lawless frontier regions where terrorists and drug-traffickers operate with impunity.

In a joint statement, the ministers urged countries bordering Afghanistan, including Pakistan and Iran, to also help Kabul.

“We call on Afghanistan’s neighbours to play a constructive role for the stability of Afghanistan,” they said in a statement.

“We particularly encourage Afghanistan and Pakistan to continue their cooperation in a constructive and mutually beneficial manner.”

Japan has been eager to promote discussion of Afghanistan, where it has pledged US$2 billion in aid.

The ministers also urged Kabul to assume a greater role in securing its territory, which in many areas is under the control of warlords, and step up the battle against drug trafficking, particularly the cultivation of opium poppy.

“Unless we win this war on terror ... both in Afghanistan and Pakistan, particularly in the border regions, the international community will not feel safe,” said a spokesman for the Japanese foreign ministry.—AP