Aziz, Karzai, Aga Meet: Pledge to Fortify Pakistan-Afghan Ties
By Husnia Natoor ‘Pakistan Times’ Foreign Correspondent

KABUL (Afghanistan): Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Prince Karim Agha Khan held a luncheon meeting here at the State Guest House on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz complimented the efforts of the Afghan President for organizing the conference aimed at improving economic landscape as well as for enhancing coordination among the international donors, businessmen and policy makers.

The Prime Minister expressed the confidence that contacts and dialogue at the higher level would further develop the relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Shaukat Aziz said that the two countries shared religious and cultural ties that were rooted in a common history.

He said Pakistan is for peace, prosperity and development of Afghanistan and there is a need to further boost cooperation for the benefit of the two countries.

Karzai Responds

Afghan President Hamid Karzai said the brotherly relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan should be further promoted to enhance bilateral coordination for the benefit of the two countries.

The Afghan President thanked Pakistan for its assistance in reconstruction of Afghanistan and said bilateral relations between the two countries would be further enhanced in various fields.

Prince Karim Vows

Prince Karim Agha Khan emphasized the need for close cooperation in all fields among Pakistan, Afghanistan and neighbouring countries for economic development and prosperity of the people of the region.

Of Joint Jirga

Pakistan and Afghanistan on Tuesday expressed confidence in their joint grand Jirga process to remove misunderstandings and vowed to go ahead with the agreement to hold its first meeting in the Afghan capital in August.

"The jirga process between the two countries will open many doors of interaction and understanding," Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz told reporters at a joint press stake out with Afghan President Hamid Karzai after their meeting.

President Karzai also termed the jirga process fruitful and said the agenda has been finalized for the first meeting.

Prime Minister Aziz however rejected the idea of any third party mediation to help Pakistan and Afghanistan resolve their differences.

"We are both sovereign countries and we can settle our differences between ourselves and do not require any external umpire," he added.

Both the leaders described their talks held in a congenial atmosphere as "positive."

President Karzai recalled his meeting with President Pervez Musharraf in Ankara and the one with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and said that both the countries can progress together in many spheres.

Taliban

To a question, President Karzai said he was willing to talk to those Taliban who were willing to renounce violence and work with the government for peace and development.

Karzai said terrorism was a menace threatening both the countries who were its victims. He said Afghanistan sought Pakistan's full support in ending this threat.

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said Pakistan has taken a number of effective steps to check terrorism and extremism. He assured that Pakistan will increase cooperation, help and assistance for the development, progress and prosperity of Afghanistan.

The Prime Minister said Pakistan was keen for development of Afghanistan by strengthening economic and trade bonds between the two countries for greater economic prosperity and stability to the region.

Shaukat Aziz, who was on a day-long visit to Afghanistan, earlier held a meeting with President Karzai and the two had wide-ranging detailed discussions on bilateral relations.

Prime Minister Aziz said, "We talked about bilateral relations, security issues, the region and increased level of interaction, with reiteration of strong desire to increase the level of trust."

President Karzai described the talks very useful and thanked the government of Pakistan for its support to Afghanistan.

He said Pakistan has played host to a large number of Afghan refugees and the Afghan people will never forget this gesture of friendship.

Gratitude for Pakistan

He expressed his heartfelt gratitude for Pakistan's assistance in reconstruction in Afghanistan and hoped it will help the country strengthen its economy and enable it to move ahead at a rapid pace.

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz referred to the menace of drugs and urged effective measures to curb it.

The Prime Minister was accompanied by State Minister for Information Tariq Azeem, Special Assistant to Prime Minister Commander Khalil-ur-Rehman and Culture Minister Dr G. G. Jamal.

Earlier, the Prime Minister was accorded a warm welcome when he arrived at the President Palace, where he was warmly received by President Karzai.

National anthems of the two countries were played and a contingent of Afghan Army presented salute to Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz.

In-depth

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Tuesday called for a multi-pronged strategy involving military, political and economic options in Afghanistan to bring peace and security to the region.

"There must be engagement with all stakeholders, the internal and the external; the visible and the invisible. People must be given a sense of hope ... They should be able to see light at the end of the tunnel," Prime Minister Aziz told participants of a conference on "Enabling Environment" organized by the Aga Khan Development Network.

"We must win the hearts and minds of the people," Prime Minister Aziz stressed and pointed at the direct linkage between security and development.

He said it was vital to ensure an environment of peace and security in Afghanistan to facilitate development in the country and stressed a comprehensive and holistic approach.

"We cannot rely exclusively on the use of force. The military option must be combined with a political process as well as economic development," Aziz told participants of the conference and recalled his demand for an international Marshal Plan type assistance programme for Afghanistan.

"This must be a comprehensive plan to promote development through reconstruction and rehabilitation, capacity building, employment generation and skills training," he added.

He said it was incumbent upon all parties to the Bonn Process and the London meeting, which had launched the Afghanistan Compact, to honour their individual and collective commitments to the Afghan people. Tangible progress must be made towards implementation of the Interim Afghanistan Development Strategy over the next five years, he added.

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz also called for an effective strategy to eradicate the multiple problems that have been created due to increasing cultivation of poppy in the country.

"The drug menace is a regional and global problem; not just an Afghan problem. Therefore, we all have a stake in finding a solution."

He urged the international community to help with crop substitution and poppy eradication programmes to eliminate this growing scourge.

"Not only is the drug trade corroding our societies but it is providing the funds for terrorism to spread its tentacles," Aziz added.

Prime Minister Aziz said Afghanistan was faced with the twin challenge of reconstruction and reform and pointed out that creating an enabling environment for development in Afghanistan will require generous and sustained support from the international community, particularly the developed countries.

He said the world community must help Afghanistan with greater market access, investment flows, and transfer of technology to ensure economic growth, employment generation, human development and infrastructure development.

Prime Minister Aziz said Pakistan has been advocating the proposal of creating Reconstruction Opportunity Zones in areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan where rampant poverty and deprivation breed extremism and militancy.

He said there was a convergence between the strategic interests of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Together the two countries can provide multiple corridors of cooperation in the fields of energy, communications and trade in the geo-political context and provide the bridge to Central Asia and the shortest access for this landlocked region to the sea, he said.

He said Pakistan and Afghanistan face common challenges and were jointly confronting terrorism and extremism.

"It is in our common interest to overcome this menace," Aziz said, adding that their partnership in the international campaign against terrorism was of the highest importance for their security and international peace and stability.

He said peace, progress and prosperity in Afghanistan were in the strategic national interest of Pakistan and several efforts over the years have been made to help and support the Afghan neighbours.

The Prime Minister said Pakistan facilitated the smooth and orderly conduct of Presidential and Parliamentary elections in Afghanistan and has recently concluded the first meeting of the Jirga Commissions, which, he said will make a major contribution towards strengthening bilateral relations and promoting peace, security and cooperation on both sides.

"We have pledged over 300 million dollars of assistance towards reconstruction projects in the country covering the fields of communication, education, and health among others."

He said several projects such as the Torkham-Jalalabad Highway have been completed and Pakistan has also offered funding and expertise for construction of a railway link from Chamman to Kandhar.

He said other projects in the pipeline include construction of the 150 bed Jinnah Hospital in Kabul and the Nishtar Kidney Centre in Jalalabad apart from several projects in the education and communication fields.

Prime Minister Pakistan has also provided unrestricted trade access to Afghanistan through its Ports and transportation infrastructure.

He said the bilateral trade has now increased to the unprecedented level of US 1.5 billion dollars.

"We are keen to promote trade and would welcome increase in Afghan exports to Pakistan. We would also encourage the private sectors of the two countries to invest and engage in joint ventures," he added.

Prime Minister said Pakistan has deployed around 90,000 troops on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border and set up over 900 border posts to prevent the movement of undesirable elements in either direction.

"There have been vital achievements in the war against terror. We remain committed to working with our partners in Afghanistan as well as with the US and NATO forces towards promoting security and stability in Afghanistan," he added.

The Prime Minister hoped that the deliberations of the Kabul meeting will provide the impetus for accelerated socio-economic development of the long-suffering country.

"The Agha Khan and his Agha Khan Development Network deserve special praise for the pioneering work they have done for the social and economic uplift of Afghanistan," the Prime Minister said.

He said Pakistan fully supports its objectives of creating the appropriate legal and fiscal framework, the regulatory conditions and the stable democratic institutions, which will encourage the growth of private initiative and facilitate the development of public-private partnership in Afghanistan.

About reforms in the country, he said that national security, viable representative institutions, and the rule of law are the essential pre-requisites of an enabling environment for development.

He said social reforms were essential to weld the people into a cohesive entity and only through shared and equitable development vertical divisions based on social inequities and horizontal cleavages along ethnic, tribal and linguistic lines, can be overcome.

The single most important element in the development strategy should be human development, with a particular focus on education and health. Broad-based social sector development, encompassing all segments of society and all regions of the country, is the bedrock upon which the edifice of national unity is built, he said.

Prime Minister Aziz said the relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan were rooted in common faith, history, geography, culture and traditions. The relationship is embedded in commonality of strategic and economic interest.

He expressed Pakistan's commitment to help its Afghan brethren achieve the objectives of political stability, social cohesion and economic development.

"We feel that a stable and prosperous Afghanistan can play a pivotal role in the regional economy and help leverage its potential by opening multiple corridors of cooperation in vital economic sectors such as energy, trade, tourism and transportation."

The conference was attended by Professor Ishaq Nadiri, Adviser to Afghan President on Finance, Prince Karim Aga Khan, Ahmed Zia Masood First Vice President of Afghanistan, Prince Amyn Aga Khan. Those who addressed the gathering included Dr Mohammad Jalil Shams, Minister for Economics and a presentation on World Bank was made by Praful Patel.

Lauds Aga Khan

Meanwhile, another report says that Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Tuesday said Pakistan attached great importance to the investment made by Aga Khan Foundation in Pakistan's various sectors including tourism, banking and other services.

The Prime Minister was talking to Prince Karim Aga Khan when he met him on the sidelines of Enabling Environment Conference organized by Aga Khan Development Network here.

Shaukat Aziz appreciated Aga Khan Foundation for creating job opportunities, promoting development and opening new avenues for income generation.

The Prime Minister gave an overview of economic development and measures taken by the government to promote investment by creating investment-friendly atmosphere in the country.

The Prime Minister thanked Prince Karim Agha Khan for undertaking social sector development programme in various sectors such as health, education, rural development and humanitarian assistance in the Northern Areas of Pakistan.

Shaukat Aziz lauded the ongoing uplift projects being carried out by the Agha Khan Foundation to raise the living standard of the people and provide basic facilities to them.

The Prime Minister appreciated the efforts of Prince Karim Agha Khan for organizing the international conference on 'Enabling Environment' in Kabul that was aimed at encouraging and supporting the confidence and growth of private initiative and also facilitating the development of public-private partnerships.

Shaukat Aziz said the conference would also help enhance the contacts among the stakeholders as it was largely attended by international donors, businessmen and policy makers.

The Prime Minister hoped the conference would also help create enabling conditions to ensure that private initiative and the organizations of civil society work successfully with governments toward achievement of common vision for Afghanistan.

Prince Karim Aga Khan appreciating the economic friendly policies of the government said the government's policies of liberalisation and deregulation were encouraging local and foreign investors.

Shaukat Aziz also discussed situation in Afghanistan with the Prince and said Pakistan wants peaceful, stable, strong and vibrant Afghanistan, as it was also in favour of Pakistan and for the region.

Referring to the issues confronting Muslim Ummah, Prime Minister Aziz and Aga Khan emphasized the need for dispute resolution, including Palestine so that there could be peace in the region.●