President Ashraf Ghani said in Tashkent on Tuesday that regional countries need to support Afghanistan’s peace efforts especially as terrorists know no geographic boundaries. 
 
In his opening speech at the Tashkent peace conference on Afghanistan, Ghani said that ties need to be strengthened with regional countries in order to fight terrorism, which is a common threat. 
 
He said Afghanistan will do everything in its power to bring about peace and that the recent Kabul Process meeting had been a clear sign that Afghanistan wants to end the war and to show that international allies support government in its quest.
 
Ghani called on all regional countries to support the Afghan-led peace process Afghanistan.
 
The president also discussed the military situation and said large operations have been carried out in the past two weeks to eliminate threats. He said the fight against drug smuggling has also been ramped up Afghanistan.
 
Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev also addressed the delegates and said the fight against terrorism was a common factor for the region and more cooperation was needed. 
 
He also said more cooperation was needed with Afghanistan in the education sector.
 
On Monday, Afghan political leaders and members of the High Peace Council expressed hope and optimism that a renewed peace effort would emerge out of Tuesday’s Tashkent peace summit.
 
Talking on the significance of the peace conference on Monday, Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah expressed hope that the conference would lead to sustainable peace in Afghanistan.
 
The Tashkent summit is expected to be attended by the UN Special Envoy to Afghanistan Tadamichi Yamamoto, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, as well as the foreign ministers of China, Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, France, Turkey, India, Iran, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
 
“The conference which is going to be held at a foreign ministers level has major importance. We hope that the conference proves helpful in meeting the aspirations of the people of Afghanistan,” said Abdullah.
 
This comes on the heels of the recent Kabul Process meeting where Afghan President Ashraf Ghani laid out a detailed peace offer to the Taliban.
 
The conference will be summed up by a Tashkent Declaration, that will reflect the main points of the discussion.
 
Uzbekistan hosted the first peace conference on Afghanistan in 1999.