DCM Haidari Welcomes US-India Cooperation in Afghanistan, in Remarks to Financial Management Professionals

Delhi: - On March 27, 2015, Deputy Chief of Mission M. Ashraf Haidari joined India’s Controller General of Accounts, Mr. Jawahar Thakur, to address international financial management professionals, including 26 Afghans working with the provincial offices of the Independent Directorate of Local Governance (IDLG), who graduated from the training programs of the Indian Institute of Government Accounts & Finance.

Mr. Haidari conveyed to the Controller General the gratitude of the Afghan government for helping address one of Afghanistan’s key priorities: to build capacity in its financial institutions across the government both at the central and local levels.

“Over the past 14 years, international involvement in Afghanistan has been overly militarized, while a lack of requisite resources for strengthening our civilian institutions has ensured a weak state, which is unable to effectively deliver basic services to our people,” said Mr. Haidari. He added that although the Afghan government had repeatedly requested long-term technical assistance from the donor community, they had been reluctant to address Afghanistan’s institutional capacity needs due to programming their aid resources outside of the country’s national development strategy and its prioritized programs.

“But we appreciate India’s assistance, including technical aid, in accordance with the specific needs and demands of Afghanistan, and this training program is one of many examples of India’s effective aid to our government,” noted Mr. Haidari. He requested the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to consider making more resources available for the Institute of Government Accounts & Finance so that they could not only lengthen the duration of their training programs for the Afghan participants but also take more trainees from Afghanistan.

“I also suggest that India and Afghanistan explore opportunities for trilateral cooperation with resourceful countries, such as the US, to raise additional funds for cost-effective training of more Afghans in technical fields, including public expenditure management, through India’s institutions,” Mr. Haidari pointed out. Mr. Thakur welcomed Mr. Haidari’s suggestions, while Ms. Sofia Dahiya, Joint Director at the Institute, agreed with Mr. Haidari to follow up with him to see how more Afghans could be admitted to the Institute’s short- and long-term training programs, with the support of friendly countries.