Lukashenko: Belarus is ready to help rebuild Afghanistan

Belarus is ready to take part in infrastructure projects in Afghanistan, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said as he took part in the Heads of State Council of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization on 17 September, BelTA has learned.

“Our country is ready to assist in rebuilding Afghanistan's infrastructure and supplying food,” the head of state said.

Aleksandr Lukashenko called the SCO a unique platform for discussing problems in Afghanistan that has observer status in the organization.

“We all respect the sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity of this state. We adhere to the principles of international law on non-interference in domestic affairs. This thesis was highlighted in all the speeches at this summit. We all want Afghanistan to return to normalcy and not cause problems for its neighbors. Moreover, the involvement of Afghanistan in the development of regional transport, logistics and energy infrastructure is critically important for linking Central Asia with South Asia, as well as for better communication within the economic space of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization as a whole,” the president said.

The head of state noted that the coordinated position of the SCO countries on Afghanistan could enable the organization to act as a system integrator of efforts of other international players. “These can be specialized UN agencies, global economic and financial institutions and even individual representatives of the private sector and civil society interested in working on specific projects in and around Afghanistan,” the president said.