News - World: Russia hosts a third conference involving Afghanistan’s neighbors and new interim rulers, urging that the country’s decades-long invaders take responsibility towards its betterment.

The third meeting of the Moscow Format Consultations on Afghanistan took place in the Russian capital on Wednesday.

It gathered representatives from Russia, China, Pakistan, Iran, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan as well as a high-level delegation representing the Taliban group.

A concluding joint statement said, “The core burden of post-conflict economic and financial reconstruction and development of Afghanistan must be shouldered by troop-based actors which were in the country for the past 20 years.”

The United States and its allies invaded Afghanistan in 2001 under the banner of “fighting terrorism” thousands of miles away from the invading countries’ borders.

The invasion temporarily ousted the Taliban. The group, however, rallied and began staging a presence on the biggest part of the Central Asian country’s soil. 

Earlier this year, the Taliban initiated an exceptionally forceful offensive to renew their rule. The US only helped matters by announcing a complete withdrawal from Afghanistan in April.

The joint statement, meanwhile, called on the Taliban “to form a truly inclusive government that adequately reflects the interests of all major ethno-political forces in the country.” 

“This will be a fundamental prerequisite for the completion of the national reconciliation process in Afghanistan,” it added.

Source: Press TV