foir_3880

FOI-R--3880--SE
through negotiations, through the United Nations Assistance Mission in
Afghanistan (UNAMA) and the United Nations Regional Centre for Preventive
Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA). The Turkmen government maintains
contacts with the Turkmen community in Afghanistan, around 2 per cent of the
population, but is not involved in the local political struggles.
THE REGIONAL NEIGHBOURS
Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan have formal relations with Afghanistan, but without
common borders there is limited scope for interaction. Both countries are
extending reconstruction assistance. Their shared overall view is that
international efforts should be geared to making Afghanistan less dependent on
aid and more economically stable so that it can develop financial relations with
its extended neighbourhood and become a more attractive destination for
investment. Afghanistan could also become an important transit centre.
Kazakhstan’s position on the resolution of the Afghan conflict is based on
several premises. Afghanistan’s stability and sustainability are prerequisites for
containing threats like international terrorism, religious fundamentalism and the
drugs trade. The international community and the UN should work with the
Afghan government and play an active role in a political resolution of the
conflict in Afghanistan. Afghanistan’s dependence on humanitarian aid should
gradually be replaced by foreign investment, preferably by transnational
corporations rather than foreign governments. Nevertheless, Kazakhstan’s
contribution today focuses on targeted economic aid for financial assistance, the
construction of social, industrial and infrastructure facilities, and staff training. In
a future vision for regional economic integration, Kazakhstan may have a leading
role to play as a potential donor to and investor in regional infrastructure
projects, including in Afghanistan.
Where security and cross-border threats emanating from Afghanistan are
concerned, Kazakhstan is the least affected of the Central Asian countries. It
participates in multilateral programmes on Afghanistan through NATO, the
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and the Collective Security Treaty
Organization (CSTO), and is especially active in the latter two organisations’
Afghanistan-related working groups. However, in Kazakhstan’s view neither
NATO nor the SCO is appropriate for stabilising Afghanistan as neither
organisation has Afghanistan as its natural focus. While all international
processes and organisations should be used, Kazakhstan prefers the United
Nations. Kazakhstan stresses that outside nations should not interfere in
Afghanistan’s domestic and foreign policy. If Afghanistan opts for neutrality,
this should be supported. Kazakhstan did have a debate about despatching a
contingent from its peacekeeping brigade (KAZBRIG) to support ISAF in
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