The bitter experience of 30 years ago cannot be allowed to repeat - Mirziyoyev speaks about Afghanistan

Against the background of other pressing international problems in the world, the issue of Afghanistan should not be put in second place.  This opinion was expressed by President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev at the summit of the Council on Cooperation and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia, held today 13 October, in Astana.

According to President Mirziyoyev, the situation in Afghanistan requires special attention.  As a result of the emergence of other acute international problems, the problem of Afghanistan has been relegated to the background.

“The bitter experience of 30 years ago, when this country practically became the arena of international terrorism, cannot be allowed to happen again.
We need to develop common and coherent approaches to cooperation with the interim government of Afghanistan.

In order to achieve a broad consensus on the Afghan issue and to take practical measures at the global level, it is necessary to prepare and agree on a phased implementation of the parties' commitments with the Afghan government.  To this end, we propose to consider the possibility of a joint appeal of Asian countries to the UN General Assembly, where the initiative to form a high-level international negotiating group was expressed”, - Shavkat Mirziyoyev says.

In his speech, the head of Uzbekistan drew attention to the fact that countries are increasingly facing a broad attack of radical ideas.

“Destructive forces are actively recruiting young people to extremist organizations, using new methods of propaganda and ideological influence.  In this regard, we need to establish system cooperation to protect the young generation from radicalism, to direct their energy and enthusiasm to creativity”, - President Mirziyoyev stated.

He continued by emphasizing that young people must have faith in themselves, a sense of ownership of a just future, and the opportunity to realize their potential and hope.

«As a co-chair of the Youth Council of our meeting, we propose to launch a new format – “Dialogue of Generations”, which encourages people of different ages to better understand each other, helps to jointly find solutions to the most pressing problems of our children.

We are ready to hold the first such meeting in April 2023 in Samarkand within the Forum of Young Leaders”, - the President of Uzbekistan said.