Afghanistan and India identifies terrorism as major threat

Asia-Pacific, News April 29, 2015 , by IRIA No Comments

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has said his government is determined to “make Afghanistan graveyard of terror,” identifying terrorism as the major challenge facing the region.

Ghani made the remarks on Tuesday in a speech to the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA), a government think tank in the Indian capital of New Delhi.

“Terror must be confronted and must be overcome… Our will must not be underestimated and we will not be beaten to submission,” said Ghani, adding that terror must be “contained if the disease is to be cured.”

The Afghan president also said peace was the main goal of his government as “the shadow of terror haunts our children, our women, our youth.”

Ghani called for regional cooperation to defeat the militants spreading violence, as Afghanistan has become a battlefield where Afghans “are fighting on behalf of neighboring and regional nations from India to Russia.”

Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani and Indian Prime Minister Modi

Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi

The remarks by Ghani came after he met with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, when both sides underscored the need to end terror and stressed connectivity and security.

The Indian prime minister also vowed continued support for Kabul’s fight against the Taliban militant group and renewed his commitment to developing trade ties with Afghanistan.

However, India sought clarity from Ghani on peace talks with the Taliban that has implications for the region’s stability. After supplying three military helicopters to Kabul earlier this month, India told an Afghan delegation that they should “let their defence requirements be known” to India, an official said.

Ghani had cancelled his predecessor’s wish-list to India for defence equipment. However, sources said, the two sides are contemplating to repackage the deal besides India increasing cappacity-building programme for Afghanistan’s armed forces.

Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani, on his first official visit to India, is trying to drum up investment and promote commerce amid concerns in New Delhi about his government’s approach to Pakistan and the Taliban.

Afghan President’s top foreign policy priority since coming to office in September has been to engage with Pakistan, in the hope that Islamabad will persuade the militant group to come to the negotiating table.

After Ashraf Ghani became president, Afghan and Pakistani officials began shuttling back and forth between Kabul and Islamabad, raising hopes for Afghanistan’s peace process. But talks with the Taliban haven’t started and there is no indication yet that they will.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday expressed support for the Afghan peace process, saying it would hinge on help from the country’s neighbors and a renouncement of violence. He said the process must remain within the framework of the Afghan constitution.

CAH/WSJ/HJL/ET/HRB