US Special Representative for Reconciliation in Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad spoke at an online briefing about the purpose of his visit to Kazakhstan. According to the US Embassy in Kazakhstan, the ambassador will meet with high-ranking officials of Kazakhstan “to discuss peace negotiations with Afghanistan, the withdrawal of US troops, as well as the prospects for the development of regional ties, trade and cooperation.”
“I will meet with the country’s leadership. I look forward to this, and we value the status of relations with Kazakhstan. We work closely on security issues, which is a concern for both of our countries. We also work closely at the political level to promote human rights. It is nice to hear the president’s statement on human rights, and I would like to see how the president’s vision [in this direction] comes true. We also have close economic relations. Our companies, in particular companies in the energy sector, make an active contribution to the economic progress of Kazakhstan,” said Zalmay Khalilzad.
According to the ambassador, “the United States strives to strengthen the sovereignty and independence of the Central Asian countries, supports their territorial integrity and wants to be a reliable and strong partner in solving the problems of promoting peace and harmony in Afghanistan.” The solution of these tasks, according to him, “is possible only by joint efforts.”
“It is very important to work together on this problem for the sake of the security of the region, Kazakhstan and the United States. Given the suffering of the Afghan people over 40 years of war, the right decision is to work towards peace. Kazakhstan has a reputation as a peacekeeping country,” Khalilzad said.
Speaking about the contribution of Kazakhstan to the promotion of peace and harmony in Afghanistan, the US Special Representative said “Kazakhstan is already showing an interest in the observance of human rights in Afghanistan, the rights of women.”
“Kazakhstan is interested in the education of Afghan citizens and has allocated a significant number of grants for Afghan students to study here (Kazakhstan annually allocates tens of millions of dollars to train Afghan students, since 2019 there has been a program for the education of women from Afghanistan in Kazakhstan - Ed.). Kazakhstan has also provided development assistance, for example through its willingness to build part of a railroad in Afghanistan, and humanitarian aid in the form of food. And, of course, there are security issues related to counterterrorism in which Kazakhstan has cooperated. I think that in all these areas, especially those related to development, regional ties and counterterrorism, there is a lot that we can do together,” Khalilzad said.
