On July 24, 2022 local time, the Acting Foreign Minister of Afghanistan's Interim Government led a delegation to visit Uzbekistan to attend the International Conference on Afghanistan to be held in Tashkent from 25 to 26.

The Uzbekistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the theme of the conference will be "security, economic growth and regional connectivity in Afghanistan", and representatives of more than 20 countries and international organizations will attend the conference.

Uzbekistan's acting foreign minister Norov has said that the Taliban's participation in the meeting does not mean recognition of them. "We want to convey the spirit of this meeting to the current authorities ... this is to ensure that they live up to the international obligations they accepted at the Tashkent meeting and the agreements signed here," he stressed.

At the Fourth Central Asian Heads of State Consultative Meeting held in Cholpon-Ata, Kyrgyzstan recently, the Afghanistan issue was also one of the contents discussed by the participants.

Uzbekistan President Mirziyoyev said at the meeting that Uzbekistan supports the active development of trade relations with Afghanistan.

He pointed out that countries in the region, as Afghanistan's close neighbors, should be more concerned about the country's stability. He is in favor of actively developing trade relations with Afghanistan, making it participate in the regional economic process, increasing humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people, and promoting the construction of major social infrastructure projects.

President Rahmon of Tajikistan said that the situation in Afghanistan has a tendency of further deterioration, and according to Tajikistan's prediction, the situation will get worse.

He believes that events in Afghanistan will not only adversely affect the Central Asian region, but may also lead to a shift in the geopolitical balance and power of the entire Eurasian continent.

"Over the past period, the Taliban leadership has failed to take steps to convince the international community and the Afghan people of its government's legitimacy, its ability to control the situation in the country and ensure the safety of its citizens, and to address emerging socioeconomic issues," he said. ... On the contrary, the Taliban have not delivered on their promise to form a government with broad political participation."

Rahmon said the Taliban government in its current form is incapable of addressing the issue of governing the country. "The Taliban are pursuing a policy of extreme religious conservatism," he said.

According to previous news, Tajikistan's Minister of Internal Affairs Rahimzoda said at a recent press conference that after the change of the Afghan regime, drug trafficking activities on the border did not decrease as the Taliban said, but increased.

"The Taliban have said they will crack down on drug trafficking, but we haven't seen visible results - more drugs were seized in one year than in 2021, and the promise has not been fulfilled," he said.

According to data from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tajikistan, in the first half of 2022, 223 people were arrested for possession and trafficking of drugs, 1 ton of prohibited items were seized, and six gangs engaged in the production and operation of illegal products were dismantled.

International experts have pointed out that the Taliban's source of income is the drug trade and cannot be quickly diverted to other productive activities. In addition, the near-critical humanitarian situation in the country has exacerbated the problem. Earlier, Vladimir Kulisov, head of the border guard of the Russian Federal Security Service, said that the situation in Afghanistan remains complicated.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has confirmed his attendance at the upcoming international conference on Afghanistan in Tashkent. Editor / Xu Shengpeng