A regional conference
hosted by Pakistan in Islamabad with focus on Afghanistan started here on Tuesday. External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj is
going to represent India at the ministerial-level meeting on Wednesday.
The high-rank delegations from
14 states, 17 supporting countries and 12 international and regional organizations are participating in the two-day conference, according to the
foreign office. Pakistan PM's adviser on foreign affairs Sartaj Aziz and Afghan deputy foreign
minister Hekmat Khalil Karzai opened the meeting of the senior officials of the
participating nations.
The
foreign office said the theme of the meeting, jointly hosted by Pakistan and
Afghanistan, is 'Heart of Asia — Istanbul Process: Enhanced cooperation for
countering security threats and promoting connectivity in the Heart of Asia
region.'
The
major event of fifth 'Heart of Asia' conference is to take place on Wednesday when
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani will jointly
inaugurate the meeting of foreign ministers.
Foreign ministers from 10 countries,
including external affairs minister Swaraj, will attend the meeting.
Pakistan,
Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia,
Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and the UAE are part of the
initiative launched in 2011 for encouraging economic and security cooperation
between Afghanistan and its neighbours for dealing with the common problems of
terrorism, extremism and poverty.
