All you need to know about Heart of Asia Conference

The annual conference of Heart of Asia Istanbul Process deliberates on various challenges facing Afghanistan, including revival of a peace process in the conflict-ridden country. Over the past years, seven conferences have been chaired by various political leaders in different nations. The main focus of the conference is revival of Afghanistan. First conference was held on 2 November 2011 in Istanbul, Turkey.

Here is all you need to know about the HoA conclave:

# The 7^th Ministerial Conference in Amritsar is being attended by nearly 40 countries and leading groupings like the European Union, NATO and Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.

ALSO READ: (Counter-terror framework, peace and regional connectivity in Afghanistan remain major focus areas on first day of HoA conclave)

# Countries falling under the central Asia meet to discuss issues like terrorism, narcotics, poverty and extremism. The United States and over 20 other nations serve as ‘supporting nations’ for the process.

# The Heart of Asia Process, with its broad-based membership and clear objectives, provides an opportunity to bring greater coherence to the efforts of the various regional processes and organizations and utilize their security and political leverages in support of a safe and stable Afghanistan and Heart of Asia Region.

# Throughout the Heart of Asia Region, the countries look to support Afghanistan in attaining peace and stability, recognized as a critical pillar to building a secure and prosperous region

# From finalising a counter-terror framework to bringing lasting peace to Afghanistan and boosting regional connectivity for the war-ravaged country’s economic growth were some of the major focus areas during first day’s deliberations at the Heart of Asia conference.

ALSO READ: (Pak PM's Foreign Affairs Advisor Sartaj Aziz arrives in India to attend Heart of Asia conference)