The foreign ministers of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan have vowed to jointly counter security threats in the Central Asia region at the meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Kazakhstan`s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Monday.

"The heads of the foreign ministries have stressed the unity of their visions and a full decisiveness to jointly counter challenges and threats to security and stability in the region of Central Asia, including fight against terrorism and extremism, illegal drug trafficking and organized crime. The sides also pledged to strengthen border security as well as to implement the goals of the Central Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone," the statement reads.

The sides also noted their readiness to further develop warm relations and mutually beneficial cooperation on a bilateral and multilateral basis in the spheres of security, economy, education and science.

According to the statement, the foreign ministers discussed preparation for the 43rd session of Foreign Ministers Council of Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) which is due to take place on October 18-19 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan expressed their readiness to take part in the meeting. The OIC, formerly known as the Organization of the Islamic Conference, is the second largest inter-governmental organization after the United Nations with 57 member states on four continents.

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