UN General Assembly
2009

The Kyrgyz Republic welcomes the decision of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to visit the Central Asian countries. We look forward to great results from that visit. The overall situation in Central Asia remains complicated. In many respects, it depends on developments taking place in neighbouring Afghanistan. No one would today dispute the fact that there is a need to work out and apply fundamentally new comprehensive and viable approaches in the humanitarian, politico-anthropological and socio-economic sectors, which will ultimately contribute to the building of a strong and prosperous Afghan State. It does not appear to be possible to achieve a final and complete stabilization of Afghanistan by military means alone. On 4 March 2009, President Kurmanbek Bakiev of the Kyrgyz Republic announced an initiative to establish at Bishkek, capital of the Kyrgyz Republic, a permanent forum and centre for hosting international conferences on security and stability in Afghanistan and Central Asia. This was called the “Bishkek initiative”. We are convinced that this “Bishkek initiative” will become a forum of practical cooperation in the area of security, with priority on the