Russian, Afghan, Pakistani, Tajik leaders to meet on August 18.

.
17/8 Tass 226

SOCHI, August 17 (Itar-Tass) - The situation in Afghanistan and the
fight against drug-trafficking will top the agenda of the quadripartite
meeting between Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Afghan President Hamid
Karzai, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Tajik President Emomali
Rakhmon in Sochi on Wednesday, August 18, an official said.
"The main objective of the upcoming summit is to discuss the issues in
the political, trade/economic and other fields, that are topical for the
participants, and firm and further develop the accords reached in Dushanbe
in the course of the meeting in the same format on July 30, 2009," Sergei
Prikhodko, an aide to the Russian president, said.
"The parties will discuss the stepping up of regional cooperation in
the efforts to assist the stabilization of the situation in Afghanistan
and on the Afghan-Pakistani border, with the participation of
authoritative organizations, such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization
and Collective Security Treaty Organization.
"A separate subject for discussion is the fight against drug
trafficking, including with the view of ensuring Russia's security.
"The Russian position is that it is necessary to combat the Afghan
drug threat on a complex basis, delivering massive strikes at all its
links, from the destruction of drug crops within the country to
intercepting the supplies of chemical precursors to Afghanistan from
aboard.
"Drug crime is inseparably linked with terrorism, providing the
necessary funding to militants.
"The parties intend to pay much attention to strengthening their trade
and economic ties, implementing joint projects in the fields of energy,
forming a favorable investment climate in the four countries, and
encouraging direct contacts between the business communities of their
states.
"Such cooperation is expected to contribute to the general
normalization of the situation in the region," Prikhodko said.
The four presidents will adopt a joint statement in which they plan to
express their solidarity with Pakistan in connection with the devastating
flood in that country, and urge the world community to provide the
necessary financial and humanitarian assistance to the Pakistani people.
The Russian president plans to hold bilateral meetings with his
Afghan, Pakistani and Tajik colleagues on the sidelines of the summit,
according to Prikhodko.
He said Russia intends to confirm its readiness to assist Pakistan in
eliminating the aftermath of the flood.
"Of course, special attention will be paid to the issue of Russia's
providing urgent assistance to Pakistan in connection with the largest
flood in the entire history of the country," the presidential aide said.
In addition, the leaders will consider the political dialogue between
Russia and Pakistan and the pressing issues of bilateral cooperation and
regional problems.
"They will discuss Russia's interaction with Pakistan, Pakistan's
interaction with Afghanistan and India and the situation in the region in
general.
"The two leaders will consider stepping up trade and economic ties,
including the implementation of joint projects in the fuel/energy,
metallurgy, and railway transport sectors.
The first meeting of the intergovernmental Russian-Pakistani
commission is due to take place on September 21, which is expected to
boost bilateral cooperation.
Zardari's official visit to Russia is at the stage of coordination.
"We're hoping that the Sochi meeting will give an impulse to the
preparation of a full-scale visit by the Pakistani leader to Moscow,"
Prikhodko said.
During the meeting with Afghan President Khamid Karzai, the parties
will discuss the situation in Afghanistan and the development of
interaction with Russia.
"Of course, we'll discuss the situation in Afghanistan. We're
interested in Karzai's opinion about the actions by the international
security assistance force in Afghanistan. We'll certainly discuss the
problem of drug trafficking and the fight against terrorism.
"It is planned to note during the meeting that the provision of
necessary assistance to Afghanistan's will continue," Prikhodko said.
He reminded that Russia had written off more than 11 billion dollars
of Afghan debt, and continued supplies of Russian wheat flour to
Afghanistan for free.
In 2010, Russia launched the program to annually train 225 Afghan
police in its colleges, and increased the number of grants for Afghan
students from 80 to 100.
"Russia and Afghanistan will also discuss trade and economic
cooperation," Prikhodko said.
He mentioned the idea to supply Russian transport helicopters in boost
the fleet of 300 such aircraft operating in Afghanistan.
"We're ready to discuss the issue. Russia is certainly interested in
it. If it is a large contract, our partners are entitled to expect that
Russia will meet them halfway from the point of view of the terms of the
contact. Russia has competitors in this sphere, but is ready to
participate in the tender," Prikhodko said.
-0-myz


Delete & Prev | Delete & Next