The Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process (HoA IP) Seventh Ministerial Conference which started on Thursday in Baku, the capital city of Azerbaijan, will focus on ‘security and economic connectivity towards a strengthened Heart of Asia Region’.
Senior officials from the relevant nations wrapped up the final declaration for the summit on Thursday.
The participants of the seventh Heart of Asia Conference debated on a number of key issues pertaining the world and the region with special focus on the war against terrorism, economic connectivity, peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan, counter-narcotics measures and further expansion of relations between the regional countries.
Afghanistan’s president Ashraf Ghani and his Azerbaijani counterpart president Ilham Aliyev will co-chair the summit.
“We want to reaffirm our political commitment we had to the region and our resolve for economic prosperity. We are facing common threats and we need to combat these threats collectively,” said Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for Economic Cooperation Adela Raz.
Meanwhile, Araz Azimov, Deputy Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan said the summit member nations were seeking to help Afghanistan in its struggle for peace and economic development.
“We want to take practical measures to help Afghanistan in its efforts for sustainable peace. We are also committed to address the issue of insurgency,” said Azimov.
President Ashraf Ghani on Thursday afternoon left Kabul for Azerbaijani to attend the Hearth of Asia Summit.
“I left for Baku, Azerbaijan to attend the 7th Heart of Asia Conference,” President Ghani tweeted. “I strongly believe that HoA is a key regional platform to strengthen political ties and boost regional cooperation for the stability and connectivity in the Heart of Asia region.”
Overview of the Heart of Asia Conference
The Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process (HoA) was founded on November 2nd, 2011 in Istanbul, Turkey. The Heart of Asia provides a platform for sincere and results-oriented regional cooperation by placing Afghanistan at its center, in recognition of the fact that a secure and stable Afghanistan is vital to the prosperity of the Heart of Asia region.
This platform was established to address the shared challenges and interests of Afghanistan and its neighbors and regional partners. The Heart of Asia is comprised of 14 participating countries, 17 supporting countries, and 12 supporting regional and international organizations.
HoA IP 6th Ministerial Conference was held in Amritsar, India on 4 December 2016 in its final Amritsar Declaration welcomed the willingness of the Republic of Azerbaijan to host the next Ministerial Conference of the HoA IP as the co-chair along with Afghanistan in 2017.