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Afghan soil will not be used against Pakistan, Hanafi tells Pakistan’s NSA
Afghan Deputy Prime Minister Mullah Abdul Salam Hanafi said on Saturday during a meeting in Kabul with Pakistan’s National Security Adviser (NSA) Moeed Yusuf that Afghanistan’s soil will not be used against Pakistan.
He also called for the early completion of Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) Gas Pipeline, the Central Asia-South Asia power line, and other projects.
“The policy of the Islamic Emirate is not to allow anyone to use Afghan territory against its neighbors and other countries,” he said adding that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) expects the same in return.
IEA deputy spokesman Inamullah Samangani said that during his meeting with Hanafi, Moeed Yusuf exchanged views on bilateral ties, trade, transit and regional projects.
The meeting was also attended by the Afghan minister for trade and industry, as well as representatives of the chamber of commerce.
Yusuf also said that strong economic ties are crucial for bringing peace and stability to the region, Samangani said.
The NSA in turn stated that Pakistan acknowledges the importance of expanding its trade and transit ties with Afghanistan, and is ready to go ahead with its regional projects.
He said that Pakistan is standing by the Afghan people and will continue to cooperate with Afghanistan across all sectors. He stressed the need to appoint delegations in the private sector from both sides.
Hanafi said that Pakistan and Afghanistan are brotherly, neighboring, Islamic countries and that Afghanistan wants strong bilateral ties with all regional countries including Pakistan, Samangani said.
Hanafi also thanked Pakistan for its help with and hosting of Afghan refugees.
Meanwhile, Hanafi invited Pakistani businessmen to invest in Afghanistan. He said that they wanted to strengthen the fields of trade and transit of the country.
Moeed Yusuf also held separate meetings with Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi.
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Girls’ education is a ‘vital issue’ for Afghanistan: Karzai
Former president Hamid Karzai said in a meeting with Iran’s ambassador and special representative, Hassan Kazemi Qomi, that education of girls was a “vital issue” for Afghanistan.
Karzai said he appreciated Iran’s cooperation and its standing with the Afghan people, especially Iran’s contributions to education in Afghanistan.
During the meeting, Karzai said peace and stability in the region are in the interest of all regional countries.
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Uzbekistan’s humanitarian aid arrives in Balkh
A shipment of humanitarian aid from Uzbekistan was handed over on Thursday to the local officials of Balkh province in the trade port of Hairatan.
Local authorities said the aid, which includes flour, oil, wheat, sugar and meat, has been handed over by Uzbekistan’s Surkhandarya governor to the governor of Balkh.
The governor of Surkhandarya stated the purpose of sending this aid was to support the people of Afghanistan and stressed the need for the development of good relations between the two countries.
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Afghanistan’s problems caused more damage to Pakistan than 3 wars with India: Durrani
Islamabad’s special envoy for Afghanistan Asif Durrani said on Wednesday that Pakistan has suffered more due to Afghanistan’s internal situation than Pakistan has suffered in three wars with India in terms of blood spilt and finances drained.
Durrani said at a one-day International Conference titled “Pakistan in the Emerging Geopolitical Landscape”, which was organized by the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI) and the German Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), that over 80,000 Pakistanis died in the two decades of the War on Terror and that his country was still counting its dead and injured.
“After the withdrawal of NATO forces, it was hoped that peace in Afghanistan would bring peace to the region. However, such expectations were short-lived,” he said.
He also stated that attacks by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militant group on Pakistan’s border areas increased by 65 percent, while suicide attacks increased by 500 percent.
“The TTP’s enhanced attacks on Pakistan while using Afghan soil have been a serious concern for Pakistan. Another worrying aspect is the participation of Afghan nationals in these attacks,” he said.
Durrani also said Pakistan had suffered geopolitically since the Soviet Union invaded the neighboring country.
“The post-9/11 world order has negatively impacted Pakistan. Apart from losing 80,000 citizens’ lives, including 8,000 law enforcement agency personnel, the country’s economic opportunity cost is estimated at $150 billion,” Durrani said.
Talking about the future outlook for Pakistan in the regional context, Durrani said that while “our eastern neighbor is likely to continue with its anti-Pakistan pursuits, the western border poses an avoidable irritant in the short to medium term.”
However, he said Pakistan can overcome its difficulties with Afghanistan, including the TTP challenge.
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