Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan on Friday agreed to enhance mutual cooperation to realise the shared aspiration of their peoples for peace, security, stability and economic prosperity with a pledge to counter any threat emanating from their respective territories against each other, a joint statement issued after the trilateral summit said.
It said the three presidents stressed the need to implement the earlier decisions taken at the trilateral summits held in Tehran in May 2009 and June 2011. It was agreed that cooperation for eradicating extremism, terrorism and militancy would be strengthened to address the root causes of these menaces.
The three leaders underscored that their countries were bound by historical, geographical, cultural and religious ties, and agreed to take practical steps for promoting stability, peace and shared prosperity, the statement said.
They decided to ensure respect for sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity as enshrined in the UN Charter, and proceed on the basis of mutual interest, mutual respect without any external intervention in their countries’ internal affairs, it added. The statement said that all parties agreed to commence trilateral consultations on an agreement in this regard and contribute to the development and reconstruction in Afghanistan.
They decided to broaden cooperation in the political, security, economic, cultural, social and educational fields and enhance people-to-people contacts, including exchange visits of parliamentarians, academics and journalists.
The statement said the three presidents agreed to increase cooperation in combating the production and trafficking of narcotics. They also decided to expand cooperation in socio-economic development, enhance three-way trade by facilitation measures including preferential tariff and free trade arrangements as well as barter trade, besides expressing a commitment to enlarge transit trade and encourage private investment in their countries.
The leaders also pledged to increase collaboration in infrastructure development, including road and rail links, transport, communication systems, in addition to joint ventures in energy, mining and agriculture sectors.
They also decided to cooperate for the safe, voluntary and early return of Afghan refugees to their homeland with dignity and honour, and emphasised the need for enhancing their cooperation at the international level, especially within the United Nations system.
They also mandated their foreign ministers to prepare and coordinate a road map for trilateral cooperation which would be submitted in the next summit.
They also mandated the interior/security ministers to develop a framework of trilateral cooperation in the areas of counter terrorism, counter-narcotics and border management within six months and further mandated the commerce ministers to outline steps for enhancing three-way economic cooperation. The three countries’ officials at the deputy foreign minister-level would meet regularly to monitor the implementation of the decisions taken by the trilateral summits.
