At the Fourth Consultative Meeting of the Heads of State of Central Asia, held in Kyrgyzstan, President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon announced the worsening situation in Afghanistan.

“Contrary to their promises, the Taliban leadership is preventing the establishment of an inclusive government. Some leaders of the movement are on the list of terrorists and terrorist organizations of the UN Security Council. The Taliban leadership is pursuing an aggressive policy of rigid religious conservatism. They have already announced the abolition of secular legislation and the application of Sharia courts in all areas of civil society,” said Emomali Rahmon.

He also added that he does not welcome the recognition of the Taliban regime by neighbors in the region.

In response, the President of Kyrgyzstan, Sadyr Japarov, said that the coming of the Taliban to power is a “harsh reality”, for which it is necessary to develop a joint course of action: “Including making every effort to ensure that neighboring Afghanistan embarks on the path of peaceful and sustainable development.”

However, the parties are in no hurry to invite Afghanistan to cooperation within the framework of a possible regional association. Representatives of this state did not participate in any of the regional summits.

This is the fourth meeting of the presidents of the Central Asian countries. The first was held in 2018 in Nkr-Sultan, the second - in 2019 in Tashkent, in 2021 Turkmenistan hosted the guests.