25 August 2011 | 12:06

Kazakhstan might unite waring parties of Afghanistan

Kazakhstan is able to unite interests of the conflicting parties of Afghanistan, Russian expert Aleksandr Orlovskiy told Nezavisimaya Gazeta. Unification policies are Kazakhstan's calling card and Astana is most likely to try uniting Afghan local conflicting parties and act as a mediator, analysts say. Aleksandr Orlovskiy noted that Russia and the U.S. made a mistake when tried to cooperate only with selected ethnical groups of Afganistan: Tajiks and Pashtuns. Deputy Secretary General of the U.S. Richard Boucher said that Astana may become a leader in investing in Afghanistan's infrastructure. According to Director of the Information Analysis Center of Moscow State University Aleksey Vlassov, such leadership would suit all the countries of the CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization) and Europe just fine. Being the last year's chairman of the OSCE, Kazakhstan demonstrated its ability to generate fresh ideas. Particularly, the government took active part in resolving the local political crisis in Kyrgyzstan. The Islamic world may also support Astana's leadership the Afghanistan restoration effort, as Kazakhstan is chairing the OIC (Organization of Islamic Cooperation) in 2011. Astana is already one of the major partners of Kabul by the volume of humanitarian aid and economic cooperation. Withdrawal of the American troops from Afghanistan was discussed at the recent informal CSTO meeting. “The coming withdrawal of the American troops from Afghanistan and such acute issues like industrial disasters, surge of international terrorism, arms and drug trafficking are part of the information security concerns for all of us,” Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev said.

Kazakhstan is able to unite interests of the conflicting parties of Afghanistan, Russian expert Aleksandr Orlovskiy told Nezavisimaya Gazeta. Unification policies are Kazakhstan's calling card and Astana is most likely to try uniting Afghan local conflicting parties and act as a mediator, analysts say. Aleksandr Orlovskiy noted that Russia and the U.S. made a mistake when tried to cooperate only with selected ethnical groups of Afganistan: Tajiks and Pashtuns. Deputy Secretary General of the U.S. Richard Boucher said that Astana may become a leader in investing in Afghanistan's infrastructure. According to Director of the Information Analysis Center of Moscow State University Aleksey Vlassov, such leadership would suit all the countries of the CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization) and Europe just fine. Being the last year's chairman of the OSCE, Kazakhstan demonstrated its ability to generate fresh ideas. Particularly, the government took active part in resolving the local political crisis in Kyrgyzstan. The Islamic world may also support Astana's leadership the Afghanistan restoration effort, as Kazakhstan is chairing the OIC (Organization of Islamic Cooperation) in 2011. Astana is already one of the major partners of Kabul by the volume of humanitarian aid and economic cooperation. Withdrawal of the American troops from Afghanistan was discussed at the recent informal CSTO meeting. “The coming withdrawal of the American troops from Afghanistan and such acute issues like industrial disasters, surge of international terrorism, arms and drug trafficking are part of the information security concerns for all of us,” Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev said.

Kazakhstan Kazakh cooperation Afghanistan