US shares Tajikistan’s desire for inclusive political process in Afghanistan

The United States shares Tajikistan’s desire to see the emergence of a peaceful political process in which all of Afghanistan’s communities take part, Washington’s special envoy, Thomas West, said on Thursday.

West made the remarks after visiting Tajikistan where he met with senior local officials including President Emomali Rahmon.

He said that Tajikistan has a long and mountainous border with Afghanistan and legitimate concerns about security threats, adding that the US supports “strong and capable” border monitoring and management.

“U.S. shares Tajikistan’s desire to see emergence of a peaceful political process in which all of Afghanistan’s communities take part,” West said. “Without it, worry that we are headed for greater instability.”

In the meantime, experts say neighboring countries have concerns about the risk of drug trafficking and mass migration and terrorism.

“These countries are at greater risk of narcotics if Afghanistan’s economic, security and military situation deteriorates. There is a risk of massive migration, and there is also a risk that Afghanistan will become a breeding ground for terrorism,” said Wali Forouzan, an expert on international relations.

Three weeks ago, the US Secretary of Defense warned that they were monitoring the situation in Afghanistan and if they saw a threat from Afghanistan against the US, they would be able to attack and repel those threats.

The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) reiterated that they would not allow anyone to use Afghanistan soil against any other country.

“Security now prevails across Afghanistan and a central government has been formed and it is being consolidated day by day. We assure the world and the regional countries that Afghanistan’s soil will not be used against any other country and such concerns are baseless,” said Bilal Karimi, deputy spokesman of IEA.