Time to transform Afghan-Kazakh interaction into sustainable cooperation

KABUL (Pajhwok): Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi during a meeting with his Kazakh counterpart in Kabul on Friday said the time had come to transform the existing positive interaction between the two countries into sustainable and long-term cooperation.

The Afghanistan Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Muttaqi met with Kazakh Foreign Minister Murat Nurtuliev.

In this meeting, the statement said, the two sides discussed bilateral relations and economic cooperation, regional opportunities, transit projects and political understanding.

Muttaqi hoped opportunities created for further development of political and economic interaction would be used positively.

He said Kazakhstan was among countries that adopted a constructive stance towards Afghanistan since the beginning and now was time for this positive interaction to be transformed into sustainable and long-term cooperation so that the trust and partnership between the two nations could further expand.

The Kazakh Foreign Minister also his county intends to further expand political relations, economic and scientific cooperation with Afghanistan.

He said his country wants to play a positive role in Afghanistan’s stability, transit, food security and overall development in the long term.

At the end of the meeting, both sides expressed satisfaction with the agreement signed on the Torghondi-Herat railway and emphasized continuation of joint work between technical teams.

Kazakhstan will invest $500 million in the Herat-Torghondi railway project under an agreement signed in Kabul yesterday.

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