New Delhi: - On November 20, Deputy Chief of Mission M. Ashraf Haidari received and met with a senior delegation from Afghanistan’s Ministry of Defense. Led by Lt. General Mohammad Dawran, the delegation termed the purpose of their visit as informational and sharing of views with their Indian counterparts. Mr. Haidari discussed with the delegation the importance of Afghanistan’s relations with India, and reviewed the development assistance India had so far provided to the country. He highlighted the fact that a peaceful, stable Afghanistan would allow the whole region to prosper, so long as the countries of the region sincerely cooperated to address the problems that had long impeded constructive, win-win regional cooperation.
For example, Mr. Haidari hoped that the upcoming Summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) would result in the signing of a number of cross-border transportation and energy agreements to help connect the region and meet its increased demand for energy. In this regard, Mr. Haidari said: “One of our core foreign policy objectives, as you know, has been to work with all countries of the region, those in South Asia and others in Central Asia, to facilitate regional investment and transit trade through Afghanistan, as we are naturally a land-bridge between these two major regions.”
However, he highlighted insecurity as the key obstacle to realizing the immense growth potential of what he called one of the most resourceful regions of the world. “When Afghanistan is daily terrorized, the whole region pays a direct or indirect price in political and economic terms,” said Mr. Haidari. He noted that it was a shared aspiration of all peoples of the region that their governments overcame their differences, in favor of their own long-term, shared interests, which were peace and prosperity so that they could progress and flourish together.
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