Russia expects that the US administration of President Joe Biden will not set back the normalization of the situation in Afghanistan. The Russian Foreign Ministry said this, responding to a TASS query on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Russia-Afghanistan agreement on economic cooperation.
"The other day there were reports about Washington's intention to revise the US-Taliban (Taliban, banned in Russia) agreement signed a year ago in Doha. We are convinced that the above-mentioned document, which has been worked on for several months and was supported by the UN Security Council, creates a good basis for the national reconciliation process in Afghanistan, while its one-sided revision could cause an undesirable setback in the settlement process and as a result - a new surge of tension in Afghanistan," underlined the ministry.
The diplomatic office pointed out that the inter-Afghan contacts in Doha were difficult: for almost five months the delegations of official Kabul and the Taliban continued coordinating technical questions. "We hope that the parties will soon move on to substantive negotiations," the Foreign Ministry noted.
"The change in the US administration is likely to have an impact on the process of peaceful resolution of the situation in the IRA. We do not rule out that Joe Biden may make adjustments to the previous administration's decision to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan," it said.
On February 29, 2020, the previous US administration, led by President Donald Trump, and the Taliban signed a peace agreement in Doha. According to the agreements, the United States, its allies and the coalition undertake to withdraw all troops from Afghanistan within 14 months. The Taliban, in turn, guarantees that they will not use Afghan territory for actions that threaten the security of the United States and its allies.
The US operation in Afghanistan has continued since October 2001, it was the longest foreign military campaign in American history. At its peak in 2010-2013, Western forces in Afghanistan numbered more than 150,000 troops. The main US and NATO combat forces were withdrawn from Afghanistan in 2014.
Russian-Afghan intergovernmental commission
There are no prerequisites for holding the next meeting of the bilateral intergovernmental commission on trade and economic cooperation between Russia and Afghanistan yet, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
"The date of the next meeting of the bilateral intergovernmental commission on trade and economic cooperation has not been determined yet," the Russian Foreign Ministry said. - "The meeting requires certain prerequisites, namely a substantive agenda and a mutual desire to build up such cooperation".
The Ministry says it is premature to consider this issue now, taking into consideration the situation when Afghanistan is in a transition stage, the process of national reconciliation has started and the issue of forming new authorities with the participation of armed opposition is being discussed. "In addition, the Afghan co-chairman of the commission, Afghan Minister of Finance Abdul Arghandiwal, was recently dismissed from his post," the diplomatic mission pointed out.
Cooperation in the energy and agriculture sectors
Russia considers energy and agriculture one of the key directions of economic cooperation with Afghanistan.
"The most promising areas for further development of trade and economic relations with Afghanistan are energy, transport infrastructure, agriculture and food supplies," the Ministry stressed. - "Flagship" for the trade and economic relations of Moscow and Kabul are two joint transport companies "Afsotr" and "Astras," the state of which will largely determine the atmosphere of bilateral cooperation, including the attractiveness of the IRA for Russian investors".
Now the implementation of joint economic projects on the territory of Afghanistan is very difficult, the diplomatic office noted, nevertheless there are positive examples over the past few years. "For example, in 2015-2018 with the participation of the Russian company LLC "Inter RAO - Engineering" the reconstruction of the 1st and 3rd hydroelectric units of HPP "Naglu" in the IRA, built in its time by the Soviet specialists, was carried out", the statement reads.
About the agreement
The agreement on trade and economic cooperation between the Russian Federation and Afghanistan signed during the visit of Afghan President Hamid Karzai to Russia in January 2011, laid the legal foundation for the economic cooperation between the countries at the present stage and increased the trade turnover between Russia and Afghanistan, which in some years reached almost $1 billion, as the Russian Foreign Ministry recalled. Russian exports amounted to more than 98% of the sum: machines and equipment, oil and oil products and other goods. Imports consisted mainly of Afghan food products and agricultural raw materials.
Now there is a decline in bilateral trade, not least due to the growing tension of the military situation in the IRA. "In January - November 2020, Russia's trade turnover with Afghanistan was only $145.8 million, of which Russian exports accounted for $142.4 million. The main export items were sunflower oil, gasoline, diesel fuel, timber, etc. Imports were mostly limited to dried fruits," according to Smolensk Square.
Russia and Afghanistan have long-standing trade and economic ties. They began to develop especially intensively in the mid-1950s. Afghanistan was provided technical and economic assistance in the construction of power plants, grain elevators, industrial plants and roads (over 140 objects). Then, because of the difficult military-political situation in Afghanistan in the 1990s, bilateral trade and economic relations were practically suspended and began to develop again only after 2001.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
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Based on materials from TASS