SAMARKAND, April 14 (Xinhua) -- The 4th Foreign Ministers' Meeting of neighboring countries of Afghanistan was held Thursday in Samarkand, the Republic of Uzbekistan.

Foreign ministers and high-level officials from China, Iran, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan attended the meeting.

The meeting issued the Samarkand Declaration.

Following are the main points of the declaration:

All parties reaffirm that Afghanistan should become a peaceful, united and sovereign state, free from the threat of terrorism and drugs. The parties note the importance of building an inclusive government in Afghanistan, emphasize the need for the international community to maintain dialogue and communication with Afghanistan, and ask the Afghan authorities to respect basic human rights including all ethnic groups, women and children.

All parties acknowledge that the security situation related to terrorism in Afghanistan is still grave, point out that terrorist organizations in Afghanistan, including the "Islamic State," the "East Turkestan Islamic Movement" and "Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan" continue to pose serious threats to regional and global security, and agree that anti-terrorism security cooperation among neighboring countries of Afghanistan should be strengthened and a united front against terrorism should be established.

All parties point out the importance of regional and international coordinated efforts in ensuring regional stability and stress the positive contribution of existing regional mechanisms such as the international conference held in Tashkent on security and economic development of Afghanistan and the Moscow Format of Consultations.

All parties reaffirm the need to launch the three working groups on political diplomacy, economic and humanitarian affairs, security and stability under the framework of the mechanism of coordination and cooperation between Afghanistan and neighboring countries.

All parties are highly concerned about the grave humanitarian and economic situation in Afghanistan, voicing continued support for the country's economic reconstruction and calling on the international community to increase emergency humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people. All parties oppose politicizing humanitarian assistance.

All parties believe that major international energy and infrastructure projects in neighboring countries are conducive to Afghanistan's social and economic development and its integration into the world economy.

All parties urge the countries that bear major responsibilities for Afghanistan's current predicament to earnestly fulfill their commitments to Afghanistan's economic reconstruction and future development. Enditem

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