Kazakhstan continues providing bilateral and multilateral support to Afghan people – Kazakh FM
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, together with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), organized a round table themed “Afghanistan and the OSCE: Fostering Opportunities for Partnership and Cooperation”, Strategy2050.kz refers to the Foreign Ministry’s press service.
The event was held as part of a tour of the Permanent Representatives of the OSCE participating States in three countries of Central Asia.
The round table was attended by senior representatives of international and regional organizations, including UN Special Representative, Head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan Tadamichi Yamamoto, Special Representative, Head of the UN Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia Natalia German, and the heads of OSCE missions in the countries of Central Asia, as well as delegates from the EU, CICA, SCO, CARICC and UNHCR.
In his welcoming speech, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, Mukhtar Tleuberdi, noted that the visit of such a representative delegation of the OSCE testifies to the interest of European partners in the consistent implementation of the results of the only Astana Summit in this century held in 2010.
“The future of Central Asia is inextricably linked with the peaceful and sustainable development of Afghanistan. Kazakhstan continues providing bilateral and multilateral support to the Afghan people in rebuilding their state. We believe that strong global and regional partnerships, long-term investments and regional cohesion are key to ensuring the peaceful future of this country”, M. Tleuberdi said.
The Kazakh Minister emphasized that rendering assistance to Afghanistan is traditionally one of the key priorities of the country's foreign policy, including during the chairmanship of Kazakhstan in the OSCE, the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in 2011, as well as during the non-permanent membership in the UN Security Council in 2017-2018.
Against this background, M. Tleuberdi focused the attention of the forum participants to the initiative of President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, on the need to create a Special UN Regional Center for Sustainable Development Goals in Kazakhstan, as well as an OSCE Thematic Center for Sustainable Interconnection.
In turn, the meeting participants noted the importance of developing synergies between key international and regional organizations participating in the process of assisting Afghanistan through the OSCE-SCO and OSCE-CICA to increase its effectiveness.
Thus, high representatives of the UN T. Yamamoto and N. German noted the significant contribution of Kazakhstan to the maintenance of peace and stability in Central Asia. During its membership in the UN Security Council, our country demonstrated a practical contribution to raising the level of discussion of the Afghan theme in the international community.
In his speech, Permanent Representative of the OIC in Afghanistan, H. Botsali, highlighted the indisputable authority of Kazakhstan among members of the Muslim world, as well as the colossal potential of the peace initiatives of First President of Kazakhstan, Elbasy Nursultan Nazarbayev, in the OIC space, including on Islamic reconciliation.
Foreign guests also praised the multilateral efforts of Kazakhstan, the European Union and the United Nations Development Program to implement educational projects for Afghan youth on the basis of leading universities of Kazakhstan.
During their stay in Nur-Sultan and Almaty the Permanent Representatives were also received by the leadership of the Supreme Court, the Minister of Information and Public Development, the Commissioner for Human Rights in Kazakhstan and other government bodies and departments of Kazakhstan.
The visit program also included a visit to the Astana International Financial Center and the International Center for Green Technologies.
