Afghan situation to dominate Jaishankar’s central Asian visit

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar travels to Central Asia on Tuesday for 2 back-to-back conferences specializing in Afghanistan, which can see him face-to-face with the overseas ministers of each Pakistan and Chinaas nicely as on the identical convention as Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani and U.S. Special Envoy Zalmay Khalilzad.

Mr. Jaishankar will first attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) ministerial in Dushanbe on July 13-14 after which he’ll journey to Tashkent for a regional connectivity convention on July 15-16.

Although Mr. Jaishankar has been on the identical venue because the Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi a minimum of twice previously few months, the SCO assembly marks the primary time he might be within the room with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, for the reason that two met in Moscow final September, once they agreed to de-escalate tensions on the Line of Actual Control.

However, the settlement has but to be absolutely carried out on the bottom. The MEA declined to touch upon whether or not Mr. Jaishankar and Mr. Wang may have a separate assembly at both of the 2 venues that each will journey to.

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The focus of each conferences is anticipated to be the deteriorating safety situation in Afghanistan and regional options for the nation within the wake of the U.S. and NATO troops pull-out, stated organisers.

Dushanbe will host a particular SCO-contact group assembly of eight member states (Russia, India, China, Pakistan and Central Asian states) with Afghanistan Foreign Minister Hanif Atmar on July 14. Significantly, the contact group, which usually meets on the stage of Deputy Foreign Ministers, is being upgraded this time, and all overseas ministers are anticipated to give a joint assertion on Afghanistan.

The assertion might be of explicit significance because the Taliban has stepped up violence within the nation, and Taliban militants declare they’re taking on extra cities and cities from the Afghan forces, which led to India pulling all its employees out of the Kandahar Consulate on Saturday. Afghanistan was excessive on the agenda of Mr. Jaishankar’s conferences in Tehran and Moscow final week as nicely.

In Tashkent, Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev will make a larger push for commerce connectivity between South and Central Asia, together with discussing the significance of the Chabahar challenge with India and signing a transit commerce settlement (TTA) with PM Khan that may give Uzbekistan entry to Pakistani ports, benefitting commerce with Afghanistan as nicely.

“Afghanistan is not just a neighbour, but a part of our region. Presently it is seen by some as a source of problems and threats, but it is also a source of possibilities, and the President feels that the foremost purpose of this conference is to strengthen connectivity, including through Afghanistan,” Uzbekistan Ambassador to India Dilshod Akhotov instructed The Puucho in an interview. He added that Afghanistan could be included within the Uzbekistan-India-Iran trilateral sooner or later, and plans for a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) with India had been additionally into account.

“The most important goal is for Uzbekistan, which the only double landlocked country in the world other than Liechtenstein, to build a bridge to the South Asian region. Through our southern neighbours we want to access the seas, and the closest is the Indian ocean,” Mr. Akhotov added.

At the convention entitled “Central and South Asia: Regional Connectivity, Challenges and Opportunities”, Mr. Mirziyoyev will challenge Uzbekistan because the Central Asian fulcrum and key nation within the Intra-Afghan peace course of, that has, previously, hosted Taliban delegations for talks.

Mr. Ghani and Mr. Khan will take part collectively on the inaugural session of the Conference on Friday, which might be addressed just about by UN Secretary General Guterres, and adopted by a plenary session with speeches by Mr. Jaishankar, Chinese FM Wang Yi, Russian FM Sergey Lavrov, and ministers and senior officers from different Central Asian nations, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka (just about), Gulf States, the U.S. and the European Union.