On Thursday, July 23, 2020, the Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies (AISS) held an online roundtable discussion on “Prospects of Cooperation between Afghanistan, Uzbekistan & the United States”. The event was accompanied by Dr. Nazif Shahrani, professor, Indiana University, USA; Dr. Akram Umarov, senior rsearch fellow, University of World Economy and Diplomacy in Tashkent, Uzbekistan; Dr. Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili, associate professor, University of Pittsburgh, USA; and Janan Mosazai, Afghanistan's former ambassador to China. The event was moderated by Dr. Magdalena Kirchner, Country Director Afghanistan of the German Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Foundation.

Dr. Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili, talked about the importance of regional cooperation and considered it extremely important; she added that without collaboration and constructive dialogue none of central Asian countries will reach development. She further indicated that since 2016 the government of Uzbekistan has changed its foreign policy toward central Asian countries; this change has been one of the country's great success in the past few years. With this new policy, Uzbekistan opened up to the outside world.  Moreover, Dr. Murtazashvili stressed that cooperation between three countries and the reintegration of Afghanistan to central Asia will be a huge achievement. She said that both countries should concentrate on people to people exchange. She believes that Uzbekistan can become a suitable model in the region.

Dr. Nazif Shahrani spoke about the history of relationships between Afghanistan and Uzbekistan. In his opinion, before Uzbekistan’s independent, the relationship between two countries was negative; and Afghanistan became sort of a justification for much of what was going on inside Uzbekistan. Afghanistan became an object of abuse to promote Karimov's policies. Afghanistan was presented as a place of fear, narcotics, and radical Islam. Dr. Shahrani emphasized that we had and still have Uzbekistani militants in Afghanistan, and the government of Uzbekistan has done nothing about it. Dr. Shahrani stated that after 2001, neither countries have tried much to expand their relationships; if done, this initiative could help and solve major problems, like militants. Dr. Shahrani believes that if three countries, US, Afghanistan, and Uzbekistan focus on militants in Central Asia, and Uzbekistan reintegrate its militants, we will have a better environment. He stressed that the three countries should not miss this opportunity. 

Dr. Akram Umarov said that the current rapprochement between Uzbekistan and Afghanistan has a historic foundation. Uzbekistan and Afghanistan has a common history, and it was a mistake trying to isolate Afghanistan from Central Asia. The new foreign policy of Uzbekistan paved the way for expanding relationships between two countries, he added. Dr. Umarov said that the government of Uzbekistan will support peace process and economic development in Afghanistan. In his view, we cannot choose our neighbors, so we must cooperate each other. He concluded that the reintegration of Uzbek’s fighters should be to both countries’ essential work, and the US could facilitate this process.

Janan Mosazai believes that the relationship between Afghanistan and Uzbekistan has changed dramatically in the recent years. He emphasized that President Hamid Karzai and President Ashraf Ghani have both tried to expand Afghanistan’s relationships with Uzbekistan. This is an important time to expand bilateral relations and cooperation, and also allow Afghanistan and Uzbekistan to take ownership of initiatives on regional economic integration and collectivity. Maybe Afghanistan and Uzbekistan can expand the trilateral agreement to include Pakistan in this collective initiative.