WASHINGTON
\nThere\u2019s no support in the region for \u201cthe imposition by force\u201d of a new government in Afghanistan, says a joint statement signed by the United States and its five Central Asian allies.
\nIn the document issued in Washington on Saturday, the United States, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan also said that \u201cterrorists and third-party forces must never be allowed to use Afghan territory to threaten or attack the C5+1 countries or any other country.\u201d
\nThe alliance \u2014 known as Five-Plus-One \u2014 pledged to work together to end the Afghan conflict, noting that the war had stunted economic progress in the South and Central Asian regions.
\nThe document followed a two-day (July 15-16) international conference in Tashkent on promoting connectivity between the South and Central Asian regions.
\nThe signatories agreed to \u201ccreate stable and prosperous conditions favorable to the Afghan peace process, including reaffirming to all parties the urgency of substantive negotiations on a political settlement\u201d in Afghanistan.
\nIn another joint statement issued on Friday, the United States, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan agreed in principle to establish a new quadrilateral diplomatic platform focused on enhancing regional connectivity.
\nThey acknowledged that \u201clong-term peace and stability in Afghanistan is critical to regional connectivity\u201d and that peace in Afghanistan and regional connectivity \u201care mutually reinforcing.\u201d
\nThe Five-Plus-One statement went a step ahead, pointing out that \u201cthe only path to a just and durable peace is through a negotiated political settlement that results in an inclusive political system and respects the fundamental rights of all Afghans.\u201d
\nThe United States and its five Central Asian allies agreed to advance cooperation with Afghanistan across security, energy, economic, trade, cultural, and other lines of effort. They also agreed to cooperate to address challenges and threats to regional security, prosperity, and stability but the document did not say who posed these threats.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WASHINGTON There\u2019s no support in the region for \u201cthe imposition by force\u201d of a new government in Afghanistan, says a joint statement signed by the United States and its five Central Asian allies. In the document issued in Washington on Saturday, the United States, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan also said that \u201cterrorists and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":205073,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-205046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n