Seyed Rasoul Mousavi, Assistant Foreign Minister and the head of the South Asia bureau at the Iranian Foreign Ministry, announced that Tehran will host the Regional Contact Group for Afghanistan meeting on Saturday, June 8.
He stated that the agenda, planned last winter, includes consultations between special representatives of Iran, Pakistan, China, and Russia about Afghanistan's future. Mousavi emphasized that the “Tehran meeting will focus on peace, stability, and development for Afghanistan and the region through regional cooperation.”
The first meeting of the Regional Contact Group on Afghanistan, initiated by Iran, took place in February last year in Kabul with representatives from 11 countries: Iran, China, Russia, Pakistan, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Indonesia, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, India, and Kyrgyzstan.
Initial reports indicate that the Saturday meeting at the Foreign Ministry’s Institute for Political and International Studies will include Asif Ali Khan Durrani, Pakistan’s Special Representative on Afghanistan. Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Mumtaz Zahra, stated that the meeting is a crucial step for close cooperation among Afghanistan’s neighbors to ensure peace, security, and stability. She added that regional consultations help prevent Afghanistan from becoming a hub for terrorism while supporting its efforts for economic improvement.
Russia's special envoy for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov confirmed his attendance at the Tehran meeting for further consultations on Afghanistan. He described the meeting as a precursor to the third summit on Afghanistan within the "Moscow Format," set to be held in Doha.
The philosophy behind the "Regional Contact Group for Afghanistan" meetings is to find regional solutions to Afghanistan’s problems, benefiting the Afghan people rather than external powers. As global dynamics shift from unipolar and bipolar systems to regional orders, solutions for Afghanistan must consider regional ties and cooperation for lasting progress and stability.
Addressing issues left by the occupation, which have caused border security problems for neighbors like Iran and Pakistan, requires regional unity. Iran supports all stability-promoting approaches in Afghanistan and utilizes its diplomatic and humanitarian capacities in this regard.
Despite the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan, American policies persist, such as supporting Daesh terrorist group, blocking Afghan assets, and backing terrorist and separatist groups, aiming to disrupt Afghanistan and its relations with neighbors.
Regional meetings are a countermeasure to such policies, allowing neighboring countries to find practical and assured solutions in a tension-free environment, strengthening the region-focused approach pursued by Iran.
Iran believes that resolving Afghanistan’s problems lies in Afghan-led solutions, overcoming unilateralism, achieving internal cohesion, and addressing social and economic demands, which are key to building a peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan.
NOURNEWS