The 3rd Ministerial Meeting of the Istanbul Process on Regional Security and Cooperation for Secure and Stable Afghanistan will take place in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on April 26.
It will be attended by the foreign ministers of Afghanistan, India, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates. Ministers and senior representatives of supporting countries like the United States, UK, France, and regional and international organizations like the United Nations and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation too will be present.
The key focus of the meeting is to chart a roadmap to maintain stability in Afghanistan following the 2014 pullout of the security forces. The representatives are expected to discuss and make progress on the confidence building measures on education, counter-terrorism, counter-narcotics, disaster management, infrastructure, and commercial and trade engagement that were agreed upon at the ‘Heart of Asia’ Ministerial conference in Kabul last year.
The Istanbul Process was launched at the Istanbul Conference for Afghanistan held on November 2, 2011 and held its first ministerial conference in Kabul on June 14, 2012.
Afghanistan plays an important role in connecting South Asia, Central Asia, Eurasia and the Middle East. The stability and development of the country is hence crucial to the region.
A number of regional and international conferences like the 5th meeting of the Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan (RECCA V), the Bonn International Conference on Afghanistan, the Tokyo Conference on Afghanistan, and the Delhi Investment Summit on Afghanistan have been held in the past to intensify cooperation and dialogue between Afghanistan and regional countries.