NEW DELHI/HERAT, 19 November 2006 — Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai here yesterday made an appeal for greater cooperation against terrorism, while Indian Premier Manmohan Singh laid stress on the country’s economic development as vital for the region as a whole and visa versa.
Manmohan was addressing the 2nd Regional Economic Cooperation Conference (RECC) on Afghanistan, jointly inaugurated by him and Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai.
Describing Afghanistan as a country “at the crossroads of Central Asia, West China and Indian subcontinent,” Manmohan said: “Our partnership with Afghanistan today embraces a multidimensional cooperation program in keeping with priorities fixed by Afghan government themselves.
Expressing concern over increasing terrorist violence in certain parts of Afghanistan that have hindered ongoing development effort, Manmohan said: “Dealing with this challenge is a collective responsibility.”
Thanking international peacekeepers stationed in Afghanistan, Karzai however said their “job was not over” despite the strides made since November 2001 when a US-led international force ousted the Taleban.
“The security of the region and the world at large are not fully safeguarded,” he warned adding “the enduring partnership of solid and unwavering allies” was a requisite for defeating extremism and terrorism. He urged regional economic integration of the region, which he described as “a lofty but achievable ambition.”
“We... recognize that Afghanistan’s stability is an asset for the region, whereas an unstable Afghanistan will undoubtedly put the vision of a peaceful and prosperous region in jeopardy,” Karzai said. “Today’s conference must serve ... as an impetus to define a vision that reflects the shared interests of all of us and agree on working together toward achieving it.”
The conclave comes a week after the release of a gloomy report that says the escalating insurgency in Afghanistan and other obstacles had meant progress has been “slow or nonexistent.” Violence had diverted resources from reconstruction and development, the Joint Coordination and Monitoring Board said. Private sector investment was low and held back by insecurity, crime, corruption, limited access to financing and a lack of reliable energy, among a range of factors, it said.
Karzai told reporters that he was being “careful” talking about Pakistan during a visit to its arch-rival India, but made several thinly veiled references to Islamabad — the Taleban’s main backer prior to the US invasion.
Karzai said the Taleban were “not rooted in Afghanistan,” but were “a product of war of the hands that played in Afghanistan in the name of jihad.” Afghanistan and India meanwhile enjoy good relations, with New Delhi one of the main donors to the post-Taleban country, granting $652 million to various projects since 2001.
The Delhi conference is being attended by representatives of Afghanistan’s neighbors, including India’s rival Pakistan, as well as Britain, Canada, Russia and the United States.
Delegates from international bodies such as the United Nations, World Bank and other global groups have also been invited.
60 Killed, Scores Missing in Badghis
Nearly 60 people are dead and dozens still missing days after flash floods in western Afghanistan, the health minister said yesterday as NATO choppers delivered medicines and other aid.
The Health Ministry had already sent a team of doctors to the remote western province of Badghis and more were on their way, Health Minister Mohammad Amin Fatemi said.
— With input from agencies
