Jaishankar holds bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan on Afghan situation

Nur-Sultan (Kazakhstan), Oct 11 (PTI) External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday held bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan during which they discussed issues of bilateral and regional cooperation, and exchanged views on the recent developments in Afghanistan.

Jaishankar arrived in Kazakhstan on Monday on the second leg of his three-nation tour to Central Asia with an aim to further expand bilateral ties and discuss key regional issues including the developments in Afghanistan after the Taliban seized control of the war-torn country after the exit of US forces.

"Arrived in Nur-Sultan for the #CICAMinisterial2021 tomorrow. Began the visit with a bilateral meeting with Uzbek FM Abdulaziz Kamilov. Our conversation focused on recent developments in Afghanistan,” Jaishankar tweeted.

Later, he met with Turkmenistan Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov and discussed bilateral and regional cooperation.

"Good to meet FM Rashid Meredov of Turkmenistan. Discussed our bilateral and regional cooperation. Exchanged views on neighbourhood developments. Agreed to remain in close touch,” Jaishankar said in another tweet.

On Tuesday, Jaishankar will attend the 6th Ministerial meeting of the Conference of Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA).

Kazakhstan is the current Chair of the grouping.

Jaishankar arrived in Kazakhstan from Kyrgyzstan where he held "constructive" talks with the top Kyrgyz leadership to boost bilateral ties, including defence cooperation and discussed global issues like Afghanistan.

While in Bishkek, Jaishankar said that India was closely following the developments in Afghanistan and underscored the importance of the Taliban regime meeting the expectations of the international community as elaborated in a UN Security Council resolution.

"We are closely following the developments in Afghanistan. It concerns all of us. Any instability in Afghanistan will have an impact in the region. There are expectations of the international community from the current regime in Afghanistan, which are adequately elaborated in the UN Security Council Resolution 2593," he said.

The UNSC resolution 2593 unequivocally demands that Afghan territory not be used for sheltering, training, planning or financing terrorist acts; and specifically refers to terrorist individuals proscribed by the UN Security Council, including Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad.

From Nur-Sultan, Jaishankar will travel to Armenia where he will meet his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan and call on Prime eMinister Nikol Pashinyan. PTI ZH AKJ