Wednesday, July 05, 2017
Kabul (BNA) President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Mohammad Ashraf Ghani and his Turkmen counterpart Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov attended a ceremony in which some bilateral cooperation agreements were signed in Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan.
With an invitation of the Turkmen leader, President Ashraf Ghani on Monday officially visited the central Asian country, where both sides talked on the current situation, future relation of Afghanistan and Turkmenistan as well as regional and international issues, according to a statement.
Power supplying to Badghis and Jawzjan was among the seven contracts signed between the two countries’ ministers of water and power.
Agreements on international road transport, cooperation in carpet industry, regulations on organization of railway communication through the Turkmen-Afghan border between stations Akina- Imamnazar and International Railway checkpoint at the Turkmen-Afghan border have been other agreements signed by the two sides.
Scientific-educational collaboration between Jawzjan University and Magtymguly Turkmen State University was another agreement, according to the statement, the two countries signed during the country’s president stay, while cooperation program of ministries of foreign affairs of the two countries for 2018-2019, was another signed contract.
The two countries leaders, according to the joint statement, emphasized on special relations, solidarity and mutual respect between the two countries and put high priority on strengthening ties.
The role of bilateral consultations in implementation of programs related to the two-sided cooperation and common viewpoints on regional and international issues, were also emphasized between the two leaders.
Both presidents stressed on maintaining and developing relations on various areas, including consultation between the ministries of foreign affairs of the two countries, the statement added.
The presidents shared the same viewpoint on the role of United Nations in maintaining international peace and security and its role in solving global issues.
The leaders agreed that peace and stability in Afghanistan would result in regional economic growth, with Turkmenistan declaring its full support to bringing peace and stability to the war-torn country.
Both sides stated that Afghanistan needed Turkmenistan’s experience in utilizing its natural resources and both emphasized on sharing experiences and expanding cooperation in the sector.
They agreed to develop transportation communication between two the countries by establishing relations in the field.
Expansion of cooperation in railroad systems and taking certain measures including reconstruction and repairing of the Serhedabad–Turghandi railroad and also expansion of Aqina railroad, was among the issues discussed in the two leaders meeting.
Energy production and energy transit projects, implementation of multilateral projects such as Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI), Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan electricity project, and Turkmenistan-Uzbekistan-Tajikistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (TUTAP) electricity transit project, have been among other issues, the two leaders talked on.
Taking into account the transit and transportation potentials of the two countries, the presidents emphasized on Afghanistan-Turkmenistan-Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey trade and transit corridor and Tajikistan-Afghanistan-Turkmenistan railway.
Implementing the UN initiative on expanding cooperation in transportation sector, the presidents emphasized on the importance of the international conference on sustainable transport which was held on 26-27 November, 2016.
The presidents stressed upon the important role played by security-border commission to expand security relations of both the countries.
They also talked about cultural relations and their role in strengthening multilateral cooperation between Afghanistan and Turkmenistan and in building amity between the two countries.
The two sides agreed to have close cooperation in organizing the Fifth Asian Indoor and Martial Arts (AIMAG) games which will be held in September 2017 in Ashgabat.
Berdimuhamedov accepted the invitation of the country’s president to visit Afghanistan and said a date of the visit would be coordinated through diplomatic channels.
Indeed, the country’s president visit to Turkmenistan was full of achievements as in the short and long terms, the benefit would be made clear to the people of Afghanistan.
F. Makhdoom
