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Russia and Afghanistan strengthen parliamentary ties
Afghanistan.ru - 4.7.2009
The first deputy speaker of the Upper House of the Russian parliament, Federation Council, Alexander Torshin has visited Kabul in response to an invitation by the first deputy speaker of Afghan Senate (Mishrano Jirga) Sayed Hamid Gailani.
According to Afghanistan.Ru information portal, Alexander Torshin’s visit to Kabul was arranged with the active assistance of the Institute of Demography, Migration, and Regional Development and was a logical continuation of the Russian-Afghan forum held in Moscow in the middle of May 2009.
Deputy speaker Alexander Torshin supported a proposal worked out by the Russian-Afghan forum and was personally involved in promoting an inter-parliamentary dialogue between the two countries.
During the visit to Kabul, Alexander Torshin met with the chairman of the Upper House Sebghatullah Mujaddedi, the Vice-President Karim Khalili, the Education Minister Farooq Wardak, the head of the Counter-Narcotics Minister General Khodaidad and the Deputy Interior Minister Daud Daud. Sayed Hamid Gailani hosted a reception at the Intercontinental Hotel in the honour of a leader of the Upper House of the Russian parliament. Among the guests were senators, deputies of the Lower House of the Afghan parliament (Wolesi Jirga) and the Afghan national assembly staff.
During the meetings in Kabul Alexander Torshin discussed with his Afghan colleagues the outcome of the Russian-Afghan forum held in Moscow in May 2009 and bilateral cooperation in education, economic and cultural areas. The two sides also focused on a wide range of issues linked with strengthening inter-parliamentary cooperation between Moscow and Kabul. Special attention was paid to joint fight against drug trafficking.
Alexander Torshin suggested holding a regional inter-parliamentary conference with the involvement of Russia, Afghanistan, members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Iran, Pakistan and India in autumn this year. Afghan parliamentarians supported the Russian senator’s proposal.
In fact, the idea of holding an inter-parliamentary conference on Afghan issue was put forward by a deputy of the Afghan parliamentarian Jamil Karzai in early April 2009, who visited Moscow to attend an international conference devoted to the Afghan crisis and possible development scenario organized by the Centre for Contemporary Afghan Studies.
Alexander Torshin also suggested working out a joint Russian-Afghan programme aimed at eliminating illiteracy among rural population in Afghanistan. According to the Russian senator, the programme provides for the increase of the number of teachers and upgrading their professional training. Alexander Torshin believes it will be expedient to set up a teachers training centre at the House of Soviet Science and Culture in Kabul, which has to be reconstructed to this end.
The Afghan officials supported the initiative by the Russian senator. Counter-Narcotics Minister General Khodaidad told Alexander Torshin that all drug addicts and homeless people were re-settled to a factory in Jangalak from the neglected compound of the House of Soviet Science and Culture. Now, Russia has to build a fence around the compound and post the guard to prevent narcotic-den from appearing there once again.
Notably, the final document of the Russian-Afghan forum adopted in Moscow on the 14th of May calls on the Russia authorities to reconstruct the House of Soviet Science and Culture in Kabul and turn it into Russian cultural and economic centre in Afghanistan.
The participants of the Russian-Afghan forum called on the government of the Russian Federation to increase the education quota for Afghan students to study at the Russian higher educational establishments up to 500 from 100 and offer 10 scholarships for post-graduate students and doctoral students.
The participants of the forum also called on the Vladimir Putin Cabinet to set up as a sign of goodwill at least one high school in the each province - Kandahar, Heart, Nangarhar and Balkh - and guarantee their work with everything, including teachers, hostels, laboratories and computer classes. They also suggest the Russian government to expend the network of these schools to other Afghan provinces as possible.
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