KABUL - The leaders of Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Iran met Tuesday evening in Kuwait on the sidelines of the first Asia Cooperation Summit.

The leaders discussed different fields of cooperation between the three countries while attending the first Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) summit in Kuwait city, President Hamid Karzai's Office said in a statement Wednesday.

Karzai addressed the summit with a special thank you to His Highness, Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmed Al-Jaber Al Sabah, the Emir of the State of Kuwait for establishing a trust fund to aid the least developed nations of Asia.
"The State of Kuwait deserves our especial gratitude not only for hosting this first ACD Summit and its hospitality, but also for its active support in strengthening the ACD to serve the interests of the people of Asia, and their aspiration for a peaceful, stable and prosperous future," Karzai said.

"In this context, we applaud His Highness for his proposal to establish the ACD Trust Fund for the development efforts in the least developed Asian countries and his announcement to contribute $300 million towards the target amount of US$2 billion." Afghanistan believes that it was an excellent initiative by the Kingdom of Thailand to launch the Asian Cooperation Dialogue in 2002 with the aim of integrating Asia's strengths and transforming the vast continent into a desirable unified community, Karzai said.

It comes after Karzai attended the meeting of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, on Monday.

Leaders from Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan and representatives from Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan attended the summit.

During the meeting Karzai asked for ECO's help in fighting terrorism.

Karzai said that Al-Qaeda, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, and other terrorist groups are active in Afghanistan, but their eradication required the fight of all countries.

He urged regional leaders to prevent the trafficking of weapons and other materials that could aid terrorists in Afghanistan. (Tolo News)