International Relations, Afghanistan.

“Heart of Asia - Istanbul Process “

It was established to provide a platform to discuss regional issues, particularly encouraging security, political, and economic cooperation among Afghanistan and its neighbors. This region-led to expand practical coordination between Afghanistan, its neighbors and regional partners in facing common threats, including counterterrorism, counternarcotics, poverty, and extremism. The United States and over 20 other nations and organizations serve as “supporting nations” to the process. The Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process presents a new vision of cooperation and confidence building for the region with Afghanistan at its centre. On 2 November 2011, Foreign Ministers from 14 countries spanning from Central Asia to the Middle East South Asia, and South Asia to Eurasia gathered in Istanbul, Turkey, and adopted the "Istanbul Process on Regional Security and Cooperation for a secure and stable Afghanistan,” as a new agenda for regional cooperation. The countries from the above mentioned regions now collectively known as the 'Heart of Asia' Region, declared their 'readiness to engage in sincere, result oriented cooperation at all levels, which will not just help Afghanistan, but will also be beneficial to security and prosperity in the region as a whole'.

The Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process articulates a set of principles, such as respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, and promoting cooperation in the areas of common challenges and shared interests in the region; and provides a platform for discussing key regional issues among participating states. The Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process has three main elements of Political Consultation involving Afghanistan and its near and extended neighbors, A sustained incremental approach to implementation of the Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) identified in the Istanbul Process document and Seeking to contribute and bring greater coherence to the work of various regional processes and organisations, particularly as they relate to Afghanistan.

The Istanbul Process Ministerial examines the Afghani recovery process and, specifically, how interregional cooperation can facilitate it. The Ministerial brings together regional representatives from both the private and public sector to discuss prospective developmental and restructuring initiatives. The process has several areas of concentration on education particularly an emphasis on student exchanges, disaster management, drug trafficking, terrorism and counter terrorism measures. It also emphasizes greater interregional cooperation. The Asian Development Bank’s Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Program (CAREC) which is working on cross border transport agreements between Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Afghanistan. Afghanistan- Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement. Black Sea Corridor Initiative. Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India Pipeline. Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Tajikistan railroad project.