President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, President of Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani and Prime Minister of Pakistan Muhammad Nawaz Sharif held a trilateral meeting at the government countryside residence Pugus.

The head of state Emomali Rahmon pointed out that Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan as good-neighborly states share common inseparable social, cultural and spiritual ties, and we would expand mutually beneficial historical relationships between our peoples in the spirit of goodwill in the coming years.

Recalling the last trilateral meeting of the Heads of states and government of Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan which took place in 2014, in this context the President of the Republic of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon stressed that the launching of the implementation of the CASA-1000 project is considered among the major and historical achievements of these states.

The leaders of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Tajikistan also agreed to take measures for early implementation of the CASA-1000 project which was a harbinger for power transmission from Central Asia to South Asia and promoting sustainable economic and social development in the region.

Constructive proposals were also made aimed at implementing joint projects addressing to expand the communication base of countries through the construction of railway transportation, developing direct air and regional integration, the use of transit roads and early finalization of Trilateral Transit Trade Agreement between the three countries.

A further expansion of trade and economic cooperation was called an important factor in strengthening regional ties and serving the interests of the peoples.

In the trilateral meeting the leaders welcomed the launching of economic forum, business exhibition of agricultural and handicraft products, and joint investment for the purpose of greater propaganda and presentation of mutual opportunities, including agricultural products.

In this context, the Head of State Emomali Rahmon proposed holding Agriculture and Handicraft Exhibition of Tajikistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan on the eve of Mehrgan celebrations in Dushanbe in October.

The sides expressed confidence that joint initiatives will be taken in the spirit of creativity and mutual understanding to solve the topical problems in addressing poverty reduction, creating new jobs, raising the living standards of the population and attracting modern technologies.

The sides also exchanged views on important issues related to trilateral cooperation in addressing participation in the efforts to normalize the political situation in Afghanistan, the fight against terrorism, extremism, organized crime and the illegal drug trade.