ISLAMABAD: Uzbek Prime Minister Abdullah Aripov arrived in Afghanistan on Saturday in the highest-level visit by a foreign official since the Taliban returned to power three years ago.
Aripov, heading a delegation, was welcomed at the Kabul airport by Abdul Salam Hanafi, the Taliban’s deputy prime minister, and other senior members of the government, according to a statement released by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce.
During his visit, he met with Taliban leaders and discussed bilateral relations and strengthening trade and business between the two countries, the statement said. Five trade and investment agreements were signed.
They are also to inaugurate an exhibition of Uzbek products, the statement said.
Earlier in the week, an Uzbek delegation held meetings with officials from the Ministry of Commerce. On Friday, Afghan media reported that a trilateral meeting among the economy ministers of Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan was held in Kabul to discuss ways to enhance trade ties.
Uzbekistan and Afghanistan share a 144-kilometer (89-mile) border and recently there has been an improvement in relations between them.
The Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021 as US and NATO troops were withdrawing from the country after 20 years of war. the world has so far not recognized Afghanistan’s Taliban government. The international community has been wary of the Taliban’s harsh measures, imposed since their takeover, especially in restricting the rights of women and minorities.
Uzbek prime minister is in Afghanistan in highest-level visit since the Taliban took power
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Uzbek prime minister is in Afghanistan in highest-level visit since the Taliban took power
- Five trade and investment agreements were signed
- They are also to inaugurate an exhibition of Uzbek products, the statement said
Serbia, Sweden urge citizens to quit Iran as Trump mulls strike
- Sweden’s Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard noted on X her “strong appeal addressed to Swedish citizens who are in Iran to leave”
BELGRADE: Serbia and Sweden have urged their citizens in Iran to leave the country after US President Donald Trump threatened military action over the Islamic republic’s nuclear program.
The Balkan nation had already invited Serbian nationals in mid-January to leave Iran and not to travel there, as the country’s clerical authorities launched a bloody crackdown on a mass protest movement.
“Due to the deteriorating security situation, citizens of the Republic of Serbia are not recommended to travel to Iran in the coming period,” the foreign ministry said in a statement on its website published overnight Friday to Saturday.
“All those who are in Iran are recommended to leave the country as soon as possible.”
Separately, Sweden’s Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard noted on X her “strong appeal addressed to Swedish citizens who are in Iran to leave.”
Iran said on Friday that it was hoping for a quick deal with the United States on Tehran’s nuclear program, long a source of discord between the two foes.
But Trump, after ordering a major naval build-up in the Middle East aimed at heaping pressure on Tehran, said on Friday that he was “considering” a limited military strike if the negotiations proved unfruitful.
