On February 10, 2018, the first meeting of the Uzbek-Afghan joint commission on security issues was held in Tashkent.
The agreement on establishment of the Uzbek-Afghan joint commission on security issues was reached during the official visit of the President of Afghanistan, Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, to Uzbekistan on December 4-6, 2017.
The Commission is composed of representatives of the security Council office, security and law enforcement agencies of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.
During the meeting, the state and prospects of cooperation between Uzbekistan and Afghanistan in the fight against terrorism and extremism, issues of combating the arms trade and drug trafficking, the legalization of criminal proceeds and other forms of transnational organized crime were considered.
The sides exchanged views on the issues of enhancing cooperation in the sphere of prevention and suppression of customs offenses, ensuring security of state borders.
The importance of ensuring security and uninterrupted implementation of joint development projects and infrastructure projects, including construction of the Mazar-e Sharif – Herat railway and the Surkhon – Puli-Khumri power transmission line, as well as protection of manufacturing enterprises, centers, trading houses in Kabul and Mazar-e-Sharif cities.
Special attention was paid to ensuring timely implementation of agreements in political, trade-economic and cultural-humanitarian spheres, reached during the official visit of President of Afghanistan Mohammad Ashraf Ghani to Uzbekistan on December 4-6, 2017.
In general, the sides noted the growing dynamics of development of multifaceted cooperation between Uzbekistan and Afghanistan. The sides expressed readiness to expand bilateral and multilateral cooperation in implementation of joint projects in transit transport, infrastructure, trade and economic, investment, energy and other vital spheres.
At the meeting, the close interrelationship of peace, sustainable development and security issues in ensuring long-term stability in Afghanistan and Central Asia was reaffirmed. In this regard, the importance of supporting Afghanistan through the expansion of regional cooperation and more effective use of political and diplomatic tools of solving the Afghan problem with a view to establishing a zone of peace, cooperation and prosperity in Central Asia was emphasized.
An appropriate protocol was signed as a result of the first meeting of the Joint Security Commission.