Report on Progress Toward Security and Stability in - United States ...

narcotics trafficking into western China which can inhibit progress on projects such as the Aynak
copper mine while impeding other investments. China and Afghanistan exchange regular
political visits and seek cooperative bilateral efforts on counterterrorism and counternarcotics
issues Beijing has also voiced its support for reconciliation efforts between the Afghan
government and the Taliban.
Although China maintains a strict policy of non-involvement with ISAF security operations, it
has provided ANSF personnel a variety of non-lethal, China-based training to bolster
Afghanistan’s security and stability since 2006. Training for the ANP conducted at People’s
Armed Police municipal training facilities has covered policing skills, crowd and riot control,
criminal investigations, and internal security duties. China has also offered basic, advanced, and
senior military courses for ANSF officers at PRC People’s Liberation Army military training
colleges and universities.
Beijing continues to support regional diplomacy, most notably by including President Karzai in
annual Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summits and forming an SCO-Afghanistan
Contact Group. Afghanistan is currently under consideration for observer status at the SCO.
China attended the Istanbul Conference on regional support for Afghanistan in November 2011,
and is an active participant to the ongoing Istanbul process, which is planning another regional
ministerial conference in June 2012.
8.6: RUSSIA
Russia seeks a stable Afghanistan to minimize the threat of terrorism and stem the flow of
narcotics into Central Asia and the Northern Caucasus, and supports Afghan-led reconciliation
and reintegration efforts. Also, based on a commitment made at the November 2010 NATO
Summit in Lisbon, Russia continues to expand the types of cargo shipped by rail and air via the
NDN and also permits the reverse transit of goods back through the NDN.
Russia recognizes terrorism as being closely intertwined with narcotics trafficking. Russia’s
interest in expanding counternarcotics cooperation has continued with its participation in
multilateral meetings, UNODC programs, and calls for greater international support to counternarcotics
efforts in Afghanistan. The NATO-Russia Council will also expand its Central Asian
counternarcotics program, which trains counternarcotics personnel from Central Asia,
Afghanistan, and now Pakistan, in Russia, Turkey, and via mobile training teams.
At the December 5, 2011 Bonn Conference, Russia asserted that the SCO should stand as the
priority venue to coordinate regional contributions to Afghanistan. Russia has supported
Afghanistan’s bid for observer status within the SCO, which remains under consideration by the
SCO. This has highlighted the increasingly important role that Russia has placed on regional
cooperation mechanisms for economic, development, and security in Afghanistan as ISAF draws
down.
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