Two hundred tons of emergency relief from Uzbekistan for flood victims has arrived at the Hairatan border post in northern Afghanistan and handed over to representatives of the Islamic Emirate on Tuesday.

The aid from Uzbekistan for flood victims included 48 tons of flour, 22 tons of rice, 100 tents, and 96 water tanks.

Rahmatul Haq Fazil, Afghanistan’s deputy minister of foreign affairs, said relations between Afghanistan and Uzbekistan were historical and that Uzbekistan has always cooperated with the people of Afghanistan and taken positive steps in the political, economic, commercial and transit sectors.

At the same time, Ismatullah Irgashev, Uzbekistan’s special envoy for Afghanistan, said a path has been paved for the expansion of relations between the two countries.

Since the Islamic Emirate’s return to power in August 2021, Uzbekistan has sent in 10 shipments of aid following a spate of natural disasters over the past two and a half years.

Foreign ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) met in the Kazakh capital this week and discussed issues around promoting stabilization in Afghanistan, combating terrorism and drug threats.

According to Kazakh media reports, the participants also discussed preparations for the upcoming SCO Head of State Summit scheduled for July and the Middle East situation.

China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Iran, India and Pakistan are members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

The organization recognizes Afghanistan, Mongolia, Belarus, Iraq and Sri Lanka as observers, but the Islamic Emirate has not been invited to the meeting.

SCO members have repeatedly expressed concerns about a terrorism threat from Afghanistan.

But the Islamic Emirate has emphasized repeatedly that it will not allow Afghanistan’s soil to be used against any other country.

Turkish Airlines resumed its flights to Afghanistan with its first flight landing at Kabul International Airport on Tuesday, after almost three years.

Turkish charge d’affaires in Kabul, Cenk Unal, said at a ceremony to mark the occasion that the resumption of Turkish Airlines flights to Afghanistan is a clear example of the expansion of friendly and historical relations between the two countries.

He added that Turkish Airlines flies to numerous countries, and flights to Afghanistan will help expand cultural and commercial relations.

Officials of the Ministry of Transport stated that the resumption of Turkish Airlines flights shows that the people of Turkey stand with the people of Afghanistan in any circumstances.

They called on other international airlines to also resume flights saying that currently Kabul airport is safe and secure.

Turkish Airlines currently has 454 modern aircraft. It connects 348 destinations in six continents and in 130 countries.