Ministers from Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan met in Kabul to strengthen cooperation against the opium trade. More than 90 percent of the world's opium comes from Afghanistan, with most of it transiting through Iran and Pakistan.

More than ever, we must emphasize shared responsibility in our strategies to counter shared threats, said Yury Fedotov, executive director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

At the International Conference on Afghanistan next week in Bonn, I hope to encourage the international community to bolster counter-narcotics as an essential element in ensuring a better future for Afghanistan and its neighbours, Fedotov said.

The Triangular Initiative of Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan has been gaining momentum since its launch in 2007.

When we started it was difficult to talk about intelligence sharing, joint operations. It took a long time for them to realize that is in their common interest, Fedotov added.

The Initiative's joint planning cell has been established in Tehran to enhance analytical and operational capacity and to launch joint operations. Since 2009, 12 drug control operations, coordinated by the joint planning cell, have resulted in the seizures of several tons of illicit drugs and the arrest of many traffickers.

But much more needs to be done, said Fedotov, The joint planning cell must be the engine of the Triangular Initiative. Joint patrols should become routine, not exceptional events.

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