Bakhtiyor Saidov meets with Taliban’s acting Prime Minister in Kabul

Uzbek Foreign Minister Bakhtiyor Saidov met with Mullah Muhammad Hasan Akhund, the acting Prime Minister of the Taliban's interim government, during his visit to Kabul. The meeting was announced by Saidov on his official social media pages on July 18.

“We are striving to further deepen our relations with our brotherly and neighboring Afghanistan,” Saidov wrote.

During the meeting, the sides discussed the development of trade, humanitarian cooperation, and regional connectivity. Special attention was given to the recently signed trilateral agreement on the Uzbekistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan Trans-Afghan Railway, which was described as a key step toward advancing regional integration.

“The Uzbek government is ready to enhance cooperation in the fields of infrastructure, logistics, energy, and education. We believe that Afghanistan should serve as a bridge between Central and South Asia,” Saidov emphasized.

As reported, on July 17, Kabul hosted the first trilateral meeting of the foreign ministers of Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. During this meeting, the heads of the Afghan Ministry of Public Works, the Uzbek Ministry of Transport, and the Pakistani Ministry of Railways signed an agreement to develop the technical and economic basis for the Trans-Afghan Railway.

The railway project, initially proposed in 2018, aims to link Termez in Uzbekistan with Mazar-i-Sharif and Kabul in Afghanistan, extending onward to Peshawar in Pakistan. Once completed, the railway will span over 700 kilometers across Afghanistan, creating a vital land corridor between Central Asia and the Arabian Sea.

It should be noted that earlier on July 17, Foreign Minister Saidov also held meetings with Mawlavi Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Taliban’s acting Foreign Minister, and Khalifa Sirajuddin Haqqani, the acting Interior Minister.