Delegates from various countries and institutions have attended a two-day security conference in Herat, the capital of western Herat province, to discuss matters of common interests with the main focus on regional and Afghanistan’s security and peace.

Participants at the conference said on Friday that the security of regional nations, particularly that of Afghanistan, was extremely under threat of the insurgent groups, calling on allies of Afghanistan to come with a solid stance.

Addressing the event, the Special Representative of the Uzbek President for Afghanistan Ismatulla Irgashev said Tashkent will continue its efforts to increase the annual trade volume between the two countries to $1 billion. He said this will be done by providing more facilities to Afghan investors.

According to the Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies (AISS), the conference will discuss the following topics:

•    Afghan Conflict: The Nexus of Internal and External Drivers.

•    Political System: Presidential VS Semi-presidential VS Parliamentary.

•    Afghanistan’s Economy: From Rentier State to Developing Economy.

•    Afghanistan & The Grand Bargain of South Asia.

•    The Taliban: What Do They Want? 

•    Afghanistan’s Foreign Policy Status: Neutral, Connector or Divisive?

•    The Way Forward: Do we need a Second Bonn Conference/Process?