DUSHANBE, 08.12.2021 (NIAT Khovar) – Today, the 11th annual meeting of the Deputy Foreign Ministers of Central Asian countries was held in Dushanbe at the initiative of the government of Tajikistan and the UN Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA).

Along with the delegation of Tajikistan, which was headed by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Farhod Salim, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic Azizbek Madmarov, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan Furkat Sidikov, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan Vepa Hajiyev, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Central Asia, head of UNRCCA Natalia Gherman, Director of the UN Counter-Terrorism Center Jehangir Khan, Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Afghanistan, Deputy Head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) Mette Knudsen, and representatives of donor countries also took part in the meeting. The delegation of Kazakhstan was headed by its Ambassador to Tajikistan Askar Tazhibaev.

The meeting focused on security threats, international terrorism and extremism, radicalization, organized crime and drug trafficking, and socio-economic problems.

The participants also exchanged views on regional cooperation in Central Asia.

The 4th phase of the joint project entitled “Joint Plan of Action: Towards a Comprehensive Implementation of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy in Central Asia” was officially launched during one of the sessions of the meeting.