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KABUL (SW): President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani lashed out at Pakistan during the ‘Kabul Initiative Peace and Security Cooperation’ conference here on Tuesday.
Representatives from over 20 countries and alliances, including the U.S., Russia, China, India, Pakistan, NATO and EU were at the conference that aims to find an “Afghan-led and Afghan-owned” resolution of the decades-long conflict that has left tens of thousands of people dead.
The President lashed out at Pakistan for ‘undeclared war of aggression’ against Afghanistan. He said Afghanistan offered Pakistan a vision of prosperity, linking South and Central Asia together through trade, investment and peaceful co-existence, yet Pakistan still believes that sponsoring terror is a controllable tool that can be switched on and off as part of the means to achieve goals.
“This cannot continue. We will not let it continue. We want peace with Pakistan. We want to be able to trust Pakistan. And we want the chance for friendly, cooperative relationships that will reduce poverty and promote growth on both sides of the frontier. Our problem and our challenge, is that we cannot figure out what is it that Pakistan wants. What will it take to convince Pakistan that a stable Afghanistan helps them”, Ghani told the conference.
The Afghan intelligence agencies blamed the Taliban’s Haqqani network — that is allegedly backed by Pakistan military’s spy agency ISI — for the recent attacks.
Ghani also said up to 75,000 Afghans lost their lives during the last two years in the ongoing violence in the country. He added: “Taliban-sponsored terrorism is creating a platform that is bringing terrorists to Afghanistan and Pakistan.”
He also spoke of his desire to make peace with the Taliban. “We want to talk peace with the Taliban, but [this is] not open-ended opportunity,” he said. He urged the international community to make good on its promise to end state sponsorship of terrorism. “The Kabul process aims to build an inclusive peace in Afghanistan, with the support of neighboring countries and the international community,” he said. “Muslims are the innocent victims of what rebels claim to be a religious war,” he added.
Meanwhile, Ambassador Cornelius Zimmerman, NATO’s senior civilian representative in Afghanistan, expressed his full support for the peace process. “I am pleased to see the will and determination of the Afghan government to hold the Kabul Initiative for Peace and Security Cooperation conference at a time when a dark week in the history of Afghanistan has just passed. “This demonstrated the unwavering resolve of the government for fight against terrorism and for ensuring peace for all Afghans,” Zimmerman said in a statement.
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