New Delhi hosts 7th regional conference on Afghan peace

NEW DELHI (Pajhwok): Senior experts and government officials from Afghanistan’s key neighbours attended the two-day Seventh Regional Conference on Peace and Stabilization in Afghanistan in New Delhi on Thursday and Friday.

Hosted by the Delhi Policy Group (DPG), the conference on December 3 and 4 was attended by representatives from India, China, Russia, Iran, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan as well as the United States, Norway and Spain.

A statement from the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Sunday the conference discussed a number of key topics relating to the short-and long-term stabilization and development of Afghanistan.

M. Ashraf Haidari, Director-General of Policy and Strategy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, participated in the conference and chaired one of the sessions on the importance of the upcoming 5th Ministerial Conference of the Heart of Asia – Istanbul Process to be held in Islamabad this month.

The major themes of this year’s Heart of Asia conference include regional counter-terrorism cooperation and regional connectivity, allowing the 14 countries of Heart of Asia both to fulfill their early commitments in the relevant CBMs and to redouble their efforts in these two key areas in support of Afghanistan.

Haidari said “if the Heart of Asia region stepped up to the plate and confronted the threats of terrorism and extremism together, they would provide an enabling environment for sustainable regional economic growth and that would foremost benefit Pakistan, Afghanistan and everyone in the region”.

Shaida Mohammad Abdali, Afghanistan Ambassador to India, Shukria Barakzai, member of the Afghanistan Parliament, Jawed Ludin, former deputy foreign minister and Amrullah Saleh, former Director General of the National Directorate of Security (NDS) also attended the conference.

pr/ma

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