Afghanistan will not participate in the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, which will take place in Islamabad on October 15 and 16, as it has not received an invitation from the bloc's secretariat.

Express News reported that the secretariat’s decision underscores Afghanistan's current status within the organization, as it is classified as an observer state rather than a full member.

Diplomatic sources indicate that Afghanistan's membership in the SCO has been inactive since September 2021. The country became an SCO observer on June 7, 2012, but has not engaged actively since its membership was rendered, Express News reported.

Pakistan, the host country for the summit, is expected to welcome leaders from various nations and around 200 delegations.

The SCO remains focused on fostering regional cooperation and security, with significant participation anticipated at the upcoming meeting.

Hassan Kazemi Qomi, Iran's special representative for Afghanistan, said this weekend that one of the key points of discussion at the 6th Moscow Format meeting held Friday was on how to prevent the flood of migration from Afghanistan.

He said neighboring countries also discussed ways to help Afghanistan deal with terrorism and how to create necessary conditions for the reconstruction of the country, in the form of a regional initiative.

In an interview with IRNA news agency, Qomi said in a conversation with IRNA news agency that ten countries participated at the meeting along with Afghanistan’s Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi. 

Qomi said: "Despite the current developments in the international arena, especially in Palestine and Lebanon, the issue of Afghanistan is still considered one of the important regional priorities."

He also emphasized that using the capacities of neighboring countries and regional cooperation can help the Islamic Emirate and the people of Afghanistan to overcome their problems.

Special representatives and high-ranking officials from China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan took part.

Herat Chamber of Commerce and Investment says the volume of exports has doubled in this province over the first six months of 1403 compared to last year.

The chamber officials said that over the first six months of 1403, they had exports worth $77 million and 882 thousand dollars.

During this period, more than 32,000 tons of agricultural, industrial products, medicinal plants and minerals have been sent to the world markets, the officials said.

However, this chamber added that the issue of exporting Herat's fresh fruits is still not resolved.

Gardeners also expect that basic steps must be taken to send fresh fruits to world markets.

“We have many agricultural products, including cotton, saffron, asafetida, grapes, raisins, which fortunately have been marketed a lot this year, said Bashir Ahmad Bahaduri, chair of Herat's Chamber of Agriculture.

“These items are also exported to countries like Türkiye, India, China, United Arab Emirates, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan and Iran,” he added.