KABUL/ ISLAMABAD (SW): Afghanistan is going to host a number of foreign ministers and dignitaries as it braces to host the sixth Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan (RECCA) in Kabul on Sept 3 and 4.
Previous sessions of the Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan (RECCA) that was initiated in 2005 – were held in Kabul, New Delhi, Islamabad, Istanbul, and Dushanbe. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), RECCA VI provides a comprehensive review of progress since RECCA-I, including in the areas of trade & transport, energy, minerals extraction, private investment, vocational skills training, and disaster preparedness.
The RECCA VI Declaration reaffirms international support for a sovereign Afghanistan integrated in the regional and global economy, MoFA stated. Consultations on the above goals will occur in advance of RECCA-VI with Afghan Ministries, regional and international counterparts, it added.
Preceding the high-level Ministerial Meeting on 4 September, an Academic Forum and a Regional Business Forum, held on 3 September will engage scholars and business representatives from across the region and beyond around critical regional economic cooperation themes, including in the areas of trade & transport, energy & resource corridors, streamlining customs & border crossings, and attracting investment & technical know-how from the private sector.
A meeting between Pakistani and Afghan officials is expected to take place on the sidelines of the events, to address issues that have disrupted the process of normalization of relations between the two countries, Dawn news reported.
Over the weekend, the German Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeir as well as the U.S. National Security Advisor Susan Rice urged both the countries to resume contacts. Rice told Pakistani leaders in meetings on Sunday that her government wished to see “a return to the positive climate” between the two countries.
Ties between Islamabad and Kabul were generally improving until the recent attacks in Kabul adversely affected them.
President Ashraf Ghani accused Pakistan of failing to cleanse its soil of terrorist bases from where attacks were being launched continuously.
He also sent a high-level delegation to Islamabad comprising Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani, Acting Defence Minister Masoom Stanekzai, and Intelligence Chief Rahmatullah Nabil to convey his government’s concerns about terrorist attacks in Kabul.
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