EAM Jaishankar meets Tajikistan Speaker, appreciates 'strong parliamentary support'

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on March 31 met with Speaker Zokirzoda Mahmadtohir Zoir of Tajikistan and lauded the strong parliamentary support for Indo-Tajik cooperation. In a tweet on Wednesday, Jaishankar had expressed that he was glad to meet Zoir. Jaishankar is in Dushanbe to attend the 9th Heart of Asia Ministerial Conference in the maiden bilateral visit to Tajikistan. EAM also met with his Tajikistani counterpart Sirojiddin Muhriddin [Aslov]. 

Jaishankar met with the Tajikistan speaker after meeting with Uzbekistan foreign minister Abdulaziz Kamilov on the sidelines of the ‘Heart of Asia’ conference earlier on March 31. "Happy to meet my distinguished colleague FM Abdulaziz Kamilov of Uzbekistan on the margins of Heart of Asia. Good discussion on our bilateral agenda. Agreed to coordinate closely on regional concerns," said Jaishankar.

On meeting Tajikistan counterpart and holding a bilateral meeting, EAM said, "Held detailed talks with FM Sirojiddin on all aspects of our bilateral agenda, including development cooperation. Also exchanged views on regional & international issues of interest. Agreed to focus on further enhancing our economic partnership."

As per the Ministry of External Affairs, India and Tajikistan share a “close and cordial” relationship maintained with high profile visits and meetings. India mainly exports pharmaceuticals, apparel and clothing accessories, handicraft, machinery and meat and meat products to Tajikistan while different types of ores such as slag and ash, aluminium, organic materials and other items are exported to India from Tajikistan.

Jaishankar meets Afghan President

On March 29, Jaishankar also met with Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani before calling for peace in and around the war-torn country in the ‘Heart of Asia’ conference on March 30. According to EAM’s Twitter post, he discussed ‘peace process’ with Ghani and in the conference, he said, “For a durable peace in Afghanistan, what we need is a genuine 'double peace', that is, peace within Afghanistan and peace around Afghanistan."

Afghanistan welcomed the remarks made by External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar during the ‘Heart of Asia’ conference in Dushanbe on March 31. Following Jaishankar’s statements, the Afghan envoy to India Farid Mamundzay backed India’s position and called for support of non-state actors to cease. Mamundzay told ANI, “Till terror support continues from within the region of beyond region the conflict will continue, we have been suffering our people are suffering because of foreign fighters, Afghans have suffered the most, it's not a civil war in Afghanistan, it's international terrorism and that has caused a lot of misery and lot of blood, so wherever it is coming from we want all those non-state actors to stop killing Afghans and destabilising Afghanistan.”

Image credits: @DrSJaishankar/Twitter