Curtain Raiser-Senior Official Meeting of Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process

Pakistan will host Senior Officials Meeting of the Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process in Islamabad on 25 May 2015. The meeting will be co-chaired by Mr. Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, Foreign Secretary of Pakistan and Mr. Hekmat Khalil Karzai, Deputy Foreign Minister of Afghanistan. Representatives from other twelve participating countries, sixteen supporting countries and twelve regional and international organizations have been invited to attend the Meeting.

The Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process was launched in 2011 to bring together regional countries to promote peace and prosperity in Afghanistan through concerted efforts of participating and supporting countries as well as international and regional organizations engaged in the Process. Pakistan is the co-chair for 2015 with Afghanistan (permanent co-chair). It will host the fifth Ministerial Conference at Islamabad later this year.

As the co-chair, Pakistan will take initiatives to take the Process forward from the Beijing Conference held in October 2014. It will play a lead role in various activities of the Process, including three Senior Officials Meetings to discuss topics pertaining to the theme of this year’s Ministerial Conference i.e. Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process: Enhanced Cooperation for Countering Security Threats and Promoting Economic Connectivity. The deliberations in these Senior Officials meetings would form the basis for the Islamabad Declaration, to be endorsed by Heart of Asia countries and organizations during the Ministerial Conference.

Islamabad
24 May 2015

179/2015