The group also includes S. Enders Wimbush, senior vice president of the Hudson Institute, and John Daly, international correspondent of the United Press International, UzA reported.

The US experts met Uzbek journalists at the Institute of strategic and regional studies under the President of Uzbekistan on 3 December.

The purpose of the US experts’ visit to Uzbekistan is to discuss the present situation and ways to reach long-term peace and stability in Afghanistan in the context of the initiatives put forward by the President of Uzbekistan, as well as exchange of opinions on the problems of regional security and the perspectives of Uzbek-US relations.

The experts underlined the importance and the timeliness of the initiatives of Uzbekistan to settle the conflict in Afghanistan and stabilize the political and socioeconomic situation in this country. They stressed that Uzbekistan’s approach to the solution of the Afghan crisis was gaining wide international support.

The experts agreed that, considering the historical experience and the present situation in Afghanistan, there was no military way to solve the Afghan problem. The speakers pointed to the importance of providing targeted economic aid to Afghanistan, solution of the problems of poverty and employment, construction and development of the economic and social infrastructure of the country.

The participants of the meeting underlined that the initiative of Uzbekistan to create the Contact Group 6+3 (countries neighboring Afghanistan, US, Russia and NATO) coordinated by the UN was the most effective mechanism to organize the process of renewal of Afghanistan and peaceful political dialogue among all opposing parties inside this country. This initiative was first announced by President Islam Karimov at NATO EAPC summit in Bucharest in 2008.

According to Frederick Starr, long before the events of 11 September 2001, Uzbekistan numerously called on the international community to pay attention to the threats to regional security coming out of Afghanistan and the need to increase fighting international terrorism. It is important that the 6+3 Contact Group initiative is being proposed by Uzbekistan, a Central Asian state, and not imposed from the outside. The expert stated that in the region Uzbekistan was the country that most adequately and deeply understood the Afghan problem.

John Daly supported President Karimov’s opinion that the Afghan problem could not be solved in a military way. Restoration and development of the economic infrastructure and implementation of socioeconomic projects are important components of stabilization of Afghanistan. 6+3 Contact Group initiative may become a basis for wider international efforts in this direction, he said.

Enders Wimbush said Uzbekistan was pursuing its policy with a deep understanding of the processes in the world and in the region. This principles also applies to the approach to the Afghan problem.

The US experts praised the efforts of Uzbekistan in the economic restoration of the neighboring country. These include construction of bridges, supply of electricity, as well as perspectives of construction by Uzbek specialists of the Hairaton - Mazar-e-Sharif railway line. Without Tashkent’s support, it’s hard to imagine establishment of peace and economic prosperity in Afghanistan, they said.

The foreign experts also highly evaluated the results of the economic reforms in Uzbekistan. Frederick Starr noted that the Uzbek economy was developing dynamically, and the country had a high intellectual and industrial potential.

Starr, who visited a number of professional colleges in Tashkent, also gave a high evaluation to the efforts of Uzbekistan in development and improvement of the secondary education system in the country.

The participants of the meeting also touched upon the perspectives of the Uzbek-US relations. Enders Wimbush said there was a growing confidence in the US of the importance of the cooperation with Uzbekistan. To evaluate the importance of Uzbekistan in the region, he continued, all one has to do is to look at the map of Central Asia, where the country occupies a central place.

Uzbekistan has demonstrated a clear understanding of the dynamics of the region and the perspectives of its development. The country has a strategic vision of the future and is implementing a weighed foreign policy, Wimbush said.