17 June 2004 23:45
Putin calls for setting up SCO-Afghanistan contact group (Part 2)
TASHKENT. June 17 (Interfax) - Russian President Vladimir Putin called for setting up a contact group between the
Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and Afghanistan when speaking at the SCO summit in Tashkent on Thursday.
"All SCO member-states are interested in peace and stability and economic revival on Afghan soil," he
said.
SCO members have a significant role to play "in setting up security belts around Afghanistan to prevent drug
trafficking," he said.
"The dramatic situation in Afghanistan was one of the reasons why the SCO was set up," Putin said.
The situation in Afghanistan is changing, with new political institutions and authorities being set up, but the
country still faces numerous socioeconomic problems, he said.
Putin welcomed the presence of Afghan leader Hamid Karzai at the summit, with whom, he said, the entire range of
issues on Afghanistan's revival can be discussed. [UZ ASIA EMRG CN KG KZ RU DIP AF] ap aw
[Interfax] |
RUSSIA IN FACTS
