Uzbek Radio
November 27

An Afghan government delegation led by the foreign minister, Dr Abdollah Abdollah, arrived in Uzbekistan on a working visit on Wednesday. He held talks at the Uzbek Foreign Ministry.

The Uzbek foreign minister Abdulaziz Komilov pointed out that Uzbekistan's efforts to open an embassy in Afghanistan and vice versa are evidence that the sides are paying special attention to strengthening bilateral ties.

A. Komilov: "We have always been friends with, and cooperating with, Afghanistan, sticking to the policy of non-intervention in one another's internal affairs. We share one river, the River Amu Darya, and our people have been maintaining very good ties.

'We have a number of issues on our agenda today, primarily bilateral relations and the situation in the region. Another very important matter is how we could cooperate in restoring Afghanistan as a state. Uzbekistan opened an embassy in Kabul, for the first time in history. We recently welcomed your embassy to Uzbekistan as well. We will, of course, continue to seriously cooperate with the Afghan ambassador."

Dr Abdollah thanked the Uzbek leadership for the great aid the country has been providing in the restoration of Afghanistan. Dr Abdollah has visited Uzbekistan several times in the past. But this is his first visit as foreign minister. During the talks, Dr Abdollah underlined that Uzbekistan played a great part in restoring Afghanistan.

Dr Abdollah: "I have been to Uzbekistan several times before. I received a warm welcome every time I came. I would like to thank Uzbekistan for its humanitarian aid to Afghanistan and for creating great opportunities for a variety of aid from other countries to be brought into my country.

'We understand well that Uzbekistan is playing a great role in the restoration of Afghanistan and appreciate its cooperation with our transitional government. President Hamed Karzai's latest visit made an significant contribution to cementing bilateral relations, and the agreements reached back then are today paving the way for the development of our ties.

'There was an exchange of views on bilateral ties and on how to strengthen cooperation against the illegal drug trade, international terrorism and religious extremism. It was particularly noted that the two sides took an important step forward by appointing an ambassador to one another's country."

The meeting also looked at how to step up the shipment to Afghanistan of humanitarian cargoes from Western nations, the UN and other international organizations via Termez port in southernmost Uzbekistan .

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