Tripartite meeting between Pakistan, Afghanistan and Tajikistan held in Dushanbe on 6 July

(2017-07-06) At the invitation of Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, Tripartite Meeting among the Heads of State/Government of Pakistan, Tajikistan and Afghanistan was held in Dushanbe today (6 July 2017). During the tripartite discussions, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon discussed economic and security challenges being faced by the region due to poor connectivity and infrastructure and resolved to jointly work together to promote regional cooperation and connectivity for shared prosperity.

Addressing the meeting, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif appreciated the initiative of President Emomali Rahmon as an opportunity to collectively reflect on the common challenges such as under development, poor connectivity and infrastructure and extremism and terrorism. Prime Minister emphasized Pakistan’s commitment to modernize facilities for speedy transit of goods to and from Afghanistan and Tajikistan through Pakistani seaports. In order to streamline regional transit traffic, he emphasized early finalization of Trilateral Transit Trade Agreement..

The leaders of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Tajikistan also agreed to take measures for early implementation of the CASA-1000 project which was a harbinger for power transmission from Central Asia to South Asia and promoting sustainable economic and social development in the region. Prime Minister thanked President Rahmon for holding a Quadrilateral meeting earlier in the day, among, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and other international partners in the project.

Prime Minister welcomed President Emomali Rahmon’s proposal for establishment of a Tripartite Ministerial Commission to strengthen trilateral cooperation in political, economic and social spheres.

While highlighting Pakistan’s sacrifices and successes in countering terrorism, Prime Minister reiterated Pakistan’s firm resolve to eliminate the scourge of terrorism. Prime Minister also reiterated Pakistan’s desire for lasting peace and stability in Afghanistan which was a prerequisite for regional security and prosperity. He said Pakistan will continue to support all efforts to ensure durable peace in Afghanistan through political dialogue under Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process.

Describing terrorism as a serious threat to peace and stability, Prime Minister emphasized that effective border management was vital to combat the menace of terrorism by preventing cross-border movement of terrorists. In this regard, Prime Minister stressed on the need to strengthen the Quadrilateral mechanism formed by Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and China in August 2016 for combating terrorism.

Islamabad
6 July 2017

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