Uzbekistan pursues a pragmatic and principled approach to interaction with the current authorities of Afghanistan and supports the an international dialogue with the participation of the Taliban movement. the Deputy Secretary of the Presidential Security Council Abdulaziz Kamilov told in an interview to the Ishonch.uz.
“In our cooperation with Afghanistan, it is not about whether we recognize them or not. We will definitely recognize when the time is right, there is no other way. But we want to take these steps towards recognition together with the international community, including the United Nations,” Kamilov emphasized.
He recalled that the Afghan and Uzbek peoples have lived in a common cultural and civilizational space for centuries, and historical ties cannot be ignored.
"Our ancestors - Abu Rayhan Beruniy, Alisher Navoi, his teacher Lutfiy, Kamoliddin Behzod, the founder of the Baburid Empire Zahiriddin Babur, the poet Mashrab - they are all connected with Afghanistan. Many of them are buried on Afghan soil," he underscored.
Kamilov cited as an example a recent gesture of goodwill by the Taliban: they sent 16 trucks of white marble from Herat to Hairatan as a gift for the restoration of the Imam al-Bukhari memorial complex.
"What other state is capable of taking such an initiative? This is proof of our spiritual closeness," he said.
According to Abdulaziz Kamilov, the Afghan people are heroic and long-suffering, having survived the interventions of the British Empire, the Soviet Union and NATO, and now they need support, not pressure.
"They all pass, destroy a peaceful state and now demand from the Afghan people that they build such and such a state, that the composition of the new government be such and such and such [elements]. It is easy to give advice. But the people who have not known peace for more than 40 years, first of all, need help. That is why our president from the very beginning outlined the principles on which cooperation with Afghanistan should be based. First of all, this is dialogue and cooperation," Kamilov recalled.
According to him, the situation in Afghanistan was very difficult, so the previous government under Ashraf Ghani was not able to manage anything - 70% of the budget was supported from abroad, and the authorities controlled only 30-40% of the territory.
He added that the president Shavkat Mirziyoyev had proposed that the Afghan authorities build a dialogue with the opposition. However, this was not heeded, and Uzbekistan began to prepare for other scenarios.
"We did the right thing by starting a dialogue with the Taliban and inviting them here. The Taliban came to power, we already know everyone. When we invited their delegations, people from large countries told us: why are you communicating with terrorists? And now many of them themselves are asking for help in organizing contacts with them, because we have good relations with them," he said.
Kamilov called for a full-fledged dialogue with the Taliban movement and the participation of its representatives in international platforms:
"Today, the dialogue is one-sided. In order to have a real dialogue, we need to hear the Taliban. They also need to be given the tribune, given a platform, invited to international organizations to hear their concerns and problems. Then you can say "we like this, but we don't like that." Then there will be a dialogue," the presidential envoy added.
In April, president Shavkat Mirziyoyev said that the world community underestimated the threats emanating from Afghanistan. He called for the country to be involved in regional projects and expressed hope for the establishment of a dialogue between the international community and the Afghan authorities. Earlier, he also proposed using Afghanistan's frozen assets to resolve social problems.
