October 15, 2010
On October 15, the international round-table “States and Perspectives of Security Provision in Afghanistan” brought together experts from the UK, Iran, Spain, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Singapore, USA, Turkey, Uzbekistan and Japan as well as representatives of international organizations and other agencies specializing in Afghanistan and regional security. The event was organized by the Center for Political Studies, headed by Gulnara Karimova, with assistance from Konrad Adenauer Foundation.
The round-table focused on the current military, political, socio-economic, demographic and drug situation in Afghanistan as well as its impact on the security of contiguous countries and the perspectives of an intra-Afghan dialog.
The bottom line that comes from the assessment of the military and political situation is that there is no military solution to the Afghan imbroglio while the strategy of the coalition forces concerning the stabilization of Afghanistan is not producing the expected results.
It was noted that determining deadlines for delegation of responsibility to the Afghan government and army has caused the Taliban to ramp up their activities across the country. In this regard, the key problem is whether the Afghan government will be able ensure its stability independently and gain control of all provinces, which is currently seen as a most difficult task.
Just as noteworthy are acute problems associated with the activities of international drug cartels and the absence of an effective strategy for combating this problem.
The Afghan situation is also confounded due to the absence of a regional approach to addressing the situation.
The current situation has brought about the need for alternative ways of achieving peace and stability in Afghanistan. In this regard, the round-table participants paid special attention to the initiative of President Islam Karimov to set up Contact Group “6+3” under the UN aegis, which was voiced during his speech at NATO/EAPC Summit in Bucharest in 2008 and UN General Assembly Summit in September 2008.
The initiative maintains that Afghanistan`s problems should be solved by the Afghans themselves with assistance from countries who are interested in the soonest possible ending of the war in Afghanistan, in its stability and prosperity.
In this mechanism the key role is ascribed to countries that share borders with Afghanistan – China, Pakistan, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan – as well as to three key players in Afghan and global policy: US, Russia and NATO.
The creation of the Contact Group will boost the legitimacy of NATO`s presence in Afghanistan, which will help achieve a more coordinated approach of the international community to stabilization in Afghanistan. The participants also noted that it is important to ensure Iran`s participation in negotiations.
The Contact Group`s most important goal is to propose to the conflicting parties an efficient program for ending military action in Afghanistan as well as solutions to key problems and controversies dividing the country.
The Group is called to become a consultative body of the international community acting under the aegis of the UN.
Those gathered also discussed the perspectives of state construction in Afghanistan and ensuring its socio-economic development.
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