Tajikistan emphasizes the need to discuss Afghanistan within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and supports the resumption of the SCO-Afghanistan contact group, according to Ahmad Saidmurodzoda, the republic's acting national coordinator for SCO affairs.
"Tajikistan has consistently stressed the importance of addressing Afghanistan's issues within the SCO," Saidmurodzoda stated. "Regarding the contact group's activities, Tajikistan has never opposed the resumption of this mechanism. On the contrary, we highlight that Afghanistan was granted observer status at the SCO in 2012, and protocols establishing the contact group were signed in 2005 and 2018 with Afghan authorities," he told the Asia Plus portal.
Saidmurodzoda also mentioned that at the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers meeting in Astana in May, the Tajik side proposed initiating an expert discussion on Afghan issues among member states.
Previously, Zamir Kabulov, the Russian President's Special Representative for Afghanistan and Director of the Foreign Ministry's Second Asia Department, stated that Russia and the majority of participants in the SCO Foreign Ministers' Council meeting supported resuming the contact group's work, though the Tajik side had reservations. Kabulov expressed hope that Tajikistan would reconsider its position soon.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: sco-russia2020.ru/Creative Commons 4.0
Based on TASS materials