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Russia Postpones Peace Meeting on Afghanistan
Russia postponed a peace meeting on Afghanistan which was planned early next month in Moscow, the Afghan government said in a statement on Monday.
The announcement came after Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has spoken with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani via phone call, the Presidential Palace (ARG) said in a statement.
In the phone call, President Ghani stressed on the Afghan-owned peace process, he said the effectiveness of the meetings would be increased when steps being taken in this regard with full coordination.
Ghani appreciated regional and international partners and stakeholders particularly Russia’s efforts for ensuring lasting peace in Afghanistan.
Thanking Ghani for making time for conversation, Russian Foreign Minister said that his country also wants an Afghan-owned peace process, adding that Moscow is ready to cooperate with the Afghan government in this regard.
According to ARG’s statement, during the call, it was decided that the meeting should be postponed so that both countries take preparations for the meeting. Kabul and Moscow will jointly chair and host the meeting.
“The Afghan government will continue domestic consultation and teams from both countries would jointly work on the meeting’s manner and setting a date,” the statement said.
This comes days after Kabul rejected to attend Russia-led talks on Afghanistan, saying that any peace gatherings should take place under the Afghan leadership and in coordination with the Afghan government.
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Iran, Pakistan leaders raise concerns over ‘terrorist groups’ in Afghanistan
Following a two-day official visit to Pakistan, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif issued a joint statement emphasizing the need to further expand commercial and economic cooperation and transform the common border of the two countries from a “border of peace” to “border of prosperity”.
The two leaders also strongly condemned aggressions and crimes of Israel in Gaza, and demanded an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, as well as unimpeded humanitarian access to the besieged people of Gaza.
Numerous other issues were also discussed but on the topic of Afghanistan, they jointly declared their commitment to the development of Afghanistan as a peaceful, united, independent country free from the threats of terrorism and drug trafficking.
According to the statement the two countries pointed out that the existence of terrorist organizations in Afghanistan is a serious threat to the security of the region and the world.
The two sides stressed their desire to strengthen cooperation in the field of fighting terrorism and ensuring security and creating a united front against terrorism.
They also discussed the importance of coordinating regional and international efforts to ensure security and stability in the region.
“While respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Afghanistan, the two sides recognized that increasing participation of all strata of Afghans in basic decision-making will lead to the strengthening of peace and stability in this country,” the statement read.
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Over 1,000 Afghan refugees forced out of Pakistan in one day
The Ministry of Refugees and Repatriations (MoRR) says over 1,000 Afghan migrants were forcibly returned from Pakistan on Tuesday through Spin Boldak border crossing in Kandahar province, the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry stated that based on information provided by the Spin Boldak Kandahar border command, these returnees comprised 191 families, totalling 998 people.
In addition, three migrants released from Pakistani prisons were also returned, according to the statement.
The statement added that after registering the returnees, the refugees were referred to the offices of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the World Food Program (WFP) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Each family received 10,000 afghanis – paid to them by the Islamic Emirate.
In another statement, the ministry said that 2,783 migrants living in Iran voluntarily and forcibly returned to the country during this week.
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Afghanistan’s minister of transport and aviation attends regional meeting in Uzbekistan
Hamidullah Akhundzadeh, acting Minister of Transport and Aviation, headed a delegation to Uzbekistan for a ‘Six-Party Corridor’ meeting that included representatives from Afghanistan, Russia, Belarus, Pakistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
On the sidelines of this meeting the Afghanistan delegation discussed trade through the corridor with the other five relevant countries.
According to the ministry of transport and aviation, Akhundzadeh met with the deputy ministers of transport of Russia and Belarus.
He also discussed ways to expand transit between Afghanistan and Russia; and Afghanistan and Belarus, and provide the necessary facilities to achieve this.
The ministry added that the acting minister had a bilateral meeting with the Minister of Transport and the Special Representative of the President of Uzbekistan on Afghanistan and discussed the expansion of road transport between the two countries.
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