Afghan meet in Tashkent advocates dialogue with Taliban without pre-conditions

TASHKENT (UZBEKISTAN): A two-day mega international meet that began on Monday at this historic city on Tuesday adopted a declaration calling for an ‘Afghan-led and Afghan-owned’ peace process, reflecting India’s long-held position that any political solution should not be imposed through proxies.

“…We recognise that a political settlement that is Afghan-led and Afghan-owned, supported by close regional counter-terrorism and counter-narcotics cooperation, and regional economic cooperation and connectivity are key to the peace and prosperity of Afghanistan and the entire region,” read the Declaration issued at the end of the two-day meet. This echoes remarks by MoS External Affairs M J Akbar at the conference.

The declaration also supported Afghan National Unity Government’s offer to launch direct talks with Taliban but without any pre-condition echoing Delhi’s long held view on dialogue with Taliban. Co-organiser of the meet Uzbekistan has offered to host peace negotiations between the Ashraf Ghani administration and the Taliban


The Tashkent Declaration further called “on all countries to respect sovereignty and territorial integrity of Afghanistan and non-interference in its internal affairs in order to achieve its security, stability and prosperity”. The Declaration also condemned terror attacks in Afghanistan in all its forms and manifestations.

Earlier in his remarks Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said that regional countries need to support Afghanistan’s peace efforts as terrorists know no geographical boundaries.Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev expressed similar thoughts and said the fight against terrorism was a common challenge for the region.

The Tashkent summit was attended by the UN Special Envoy to Afghanistan Tadamichi Yamamoto, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, as well as the Ministers and senior officials of China, Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, France, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates besides India.

This conference was held close on the heels of the recent Kabul Process meeting where Afghan President Ashraf Ghani laid out a detailed peace offer to the Taliban.