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US praises India’s role in Afghanistan
The Pentagon has praised India’s significant contribution in the peaceful development of Afghanistan; calling on China to have an active part in Afghanistan.
India and Afghanistan signed a strategic partnership declaration in 2011, which formalized cooperation on governance, economics, commerce, education, public administration, and security/law enforcement which said in a report submitted to the US Congress.
India would like to expand its role in the south Asia region, and accepts a regional arrangement for rebuilding efforts in Afghanistan with close cooperation of other nations.
However, Pakistan has expressed opposition to the creation of a regional body which will oversee the economic and security situation in Afghanistan.
India would also hope for the various ethnic divisions of Afghanistan to cooperate with each other to ensure sustainable peace in Afghanistan.
US secretary of state, John Kerry called on China and other countries to play effective role in development of Afghanistan like India.
“Afghanistan has its good neighboring countries such as; India and China. I think anyone in the international community can benefit from a stable, secure and successful Afghanistan,” Kerry said.
Earlier, Chinese President Xi Jinping considered President Ashraf Ghani as an old friend of the Chinese people with whom China prepared to work towards “a new era of co-operation,” and “to take development to a new depth.”
Despite China’s concerns that a deteriorating security situation could threaten greater investment, it agreed to give Afghanistan $327 million in aid over the next three years — $81.8 million in 2014 and the remaining sum between 2015-2017.
More significantly, China also agreed to act as a mediator between Afghanistan and Pakistan while Ghani pledged to help China fight its own Islamic militants.
China is interested in playing a larger role in Afghanistan, long seen as primarily a U.S. responsibility after its 2001 invasion.
China’s Afghan policy is now feeling the pressure emanating from the withdrawal of western troops and Taliban surge threatening to give a boost to Islamist militancy in China’s western Xinjiang region.
US Secretary of State once again condemned the recent deadly attacks in Afghanistan; renewing support form Afghan-Taliban reconciliation process.
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.
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.
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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