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Blinken and Qatari FM discuss Afghanistan on sidelines of ASEAN summit
The foreign ministers of Qatar and the United States met Thursday on the sidelines of the meeting of foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Cambodia and discussed the situation in Afghanistan.
In this meeting, Doha-Washington bilateral cooperation, developments in Afghanistan, the latest developments related to the Iran nuclear agreement negotiations, as well as some common regional and international issues were discussed.
The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Qatar’s Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani discussed the joint relations between Doha and Washington and the developments in Afghanistan.
“It’s a great pleasure, as always, to be with my friend, the foreign minister of Qatar, who we have spent a lot of time together in various parts of the world and on the phone, and I think this is evidence of the very close partnership between Qatar and the United States on a broad range of both regional and global issues. We had an opportunity to just spend some time talking about a number of them, to include Afghanistan, to include Iran, to include some other regional issues, and of course to talk a little bit about the work that we’re doing here in Cambodia,” said Blinken.
The latest developments related to the Iran nuclear agreement negotiations, as well as some regional and international common issues, were other issues that have been discussed between the two Qatari and US counterparts.
“I think the world events requires consultation between both of us, especially what’s going on in our region. I think our discussion today is very important for the security for – for the security of our region. And we really appreciate the relationship and the partnership and the commitment that the U.S. has toward our region,” said Al-Thani.
What the US officials had previously announced was that Qatar has the role of protecting US interests in Afghanistan, and including the American Embassy, the embassies of most Western countries that were in Kabul after the fall of the former regime in Afghanistan moved their activities to Doha, the capital of Qatar.
This meeting took place after the claim that the leader of al-Qaeda was killed in an attack by the US drone in Kabul. Although it is not yet clear which country this plane took off from, but Qatar, which is the guardian of US interests in Afghanistan, has not reacted to this attack so far.
Roza Otunbayeva, Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), recently visited the city of Maimana in northern Afghanistan, where she met with local officials, entrepreneurs, and UN staff.
UNAMA wrote on its Facebook page on Sunday, that during the visit, entrepreneurs — including women — met with Otunbayeva, and requested support to facilitate access to new markets, particularly in Uzbekistan.
UNAMA further stated that among these entrepreneurs was a group of women who, with the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), had established a tailoring workshop.
They expressed their appreciation for the support received and spoke about the significant growth and development of their business.
UNAMA added that the organization remains committed to promoting economic opportunities and empowering Afghan communities, especially women.
Anand Prakash, head of the Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan Division of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, met with Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in Kabul for talks on various issues.
According to a press release issued Sunday by the Afghan Foreign Ministry, bilateral political relations, trade, transit and recent political developments in the region were discussed in the meeting.
Muttaqi stressed the need for the expansion of diplomatic and economic relations between the two countries and explained that Afghanistan currently offers favorable opportunities for investment. He said Indian investors should take advantage of these opportunities.
He also said that facilities should be created for the movement of people between Afghanistan and India and the issuance of visas for medical purposes, students and businessmen should return to normal.
Meanwhile, Prakash said that relations with Afghanistan are important for India and he hopes that these relations will expand further in various fields.
He stressed that India will continue its cooperation with Afghanistan and wants to invest in some infrastructure projects and restart projects that were paused for some time.
The two sides also emphasized the expansion of relations, the exchange of delegations, visa facilitation and bilateral cooperation.
Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi has said in a phone call with his Uzbek counterpart that Afghanistan is fully prepared for the implementation of the Trans-Afghan railway project.
During the call, the two sides discussed strengthening bilateral and multilateral relations, as well as expanding political, economic and transit cooperation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kabul said in a statement on Sunday.
Uzbek Foreign Minister Bakhtiyor Saidov noted that Afghanistan’s exports to Uzbekistan have tripled in the first four months of 2025 compared to last year. He vowed to create more facilities in the field of trade and transit between the two countries, especially in issuing visas to Afghan citizens.
Meanwhile, Amir Khan Muttaqi said that Afghanistan is fully prepared for the implementation of major economic projects such as the Trans-Afghan railway project and for the strengthening of political, trade and transit cooperation with Uzbekistan. He said that the existing opportunities should be utilized for the mutual benefit of the two countries.
The two sides also discussed the holding of a trilateral meeting between Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and Pakistan at the level of foreign ministers and agreed to coordinate through diplomatic channels to determine the exact date and place of the meeting.
The three neighboring countries signed an agreement in February 2021 to construct a 573-kilometer railway line through Afghanistan, connecting landlocked Central Asia to Pakistan seaports, with an estimated cost of $4.8 billion to enhance regional economic connectivity.
Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar held a telephone conversation with Uzbek foreign minister last Thursday to discuss the Trans-Afghan railway project.
Dar expressed hope that the three countries would soon sign a framework agreement on this important regional project.
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