On behalf of the Government of India, I welcome you all.
My colleague and co-chair, Foreign Minister of Afghanistan, Mr. Salahuddin Rabbani had to return with President Ghani. I am delighted to have Deputy Foreign Minister Mr. Karzai here with me.
We have just concluded the Sixth Ministerial Conference of the Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process on Afghanistan.
I am happy to inform you that the Conference had substantive deliberations on a number of facets pertaining to the situation in Afghanistan.
We were privileged and honoured that the Conference was jointly inaugurated earlier today by the President of Afghanistan and the Prime Minister of India.
In their respective addresses, both the leaders stressed the imperative of eliminating terrorism and violent extremism for ensuring peace, stability and prosperity not only in Afghanistan but also in the entire region.
The Conference was attended by delegations from practically every participating country, supporting countries and international organizations – 45 in all. The delegations of Afghanistan, India, Iran, Kyrgyz Republic, Pakistan, Turkey and Turkmenistan, and of the European Union- were led by the respective Ministers.
The Conference also saw the presence and participation of guest countries Austria, Bulgaria, Latvia and Uzbekistan.
The Conference adopted the Amritsar Declaration which puts focus on the Heart of Asia countries and supporting countries and organizations working together to comprehensively address the menace of terrorism.
I trust you have the copies of the Declaration or will soon have them.
The three big issues of the conference were:
(i) Countering terrorism to create stability and security in Afghanistan
(ii) Providing Afghanistan connectivity to strengthen economic activities and
(iii) Development, which is essential for the progress of Afghanistan.
The Declaration recognizes terrorism as the biggest threat to peace and stability and demands immediate end to all forms of terrorism and all support, financing, safe havens and sanctuaries to it.
For the first time, a Heart of Asia Declaration expressed concern at the violence caused in Afghanistan and the region by terrorist groups like Al Qaeda, Daesh, LeT and JeM etc.
Apart from calling for concerted international cooperation to this end, the Declaration also calls for early finalization of the draft Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism and early meeting of experts to discuss a draft Regional Counter-Terrorism Framework Strategy, recently prepared by Afghanistan, for its early finalization.
The discussions and the Declaration reiterated the strong support from the Heart of Asia countries for Afghanistan's efforts to use its geographic location to enhance wider regional economic cooperation. Specific initiatives in this regard including the India-Iran-Afghanistan Trilateral Agreement on developing Chabahar were acknowledged.
On India’s part, we are also engaged bilaterally with Afghanistan to upgrade our connectivity linkages with the aim of making Afghanistan, in the words of the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, a geography of peace.
During the Conference various delegations expressed appreciation for the constructive role that India has been playing in supporting Afghanistan and its people in the past decade and a half.
You would also have noticed that the choice of Amritsar as the venue for the Conference was a deliberate one intended to highlight the immense potential for regional connectivity and the benefits that it can bring to land-locked Afghanistan, provided concerned countries show the required sincerity and political determination.
During the deliberations the delegations welcomed the offer of the Republic of Azerbaijan to host the next Ministerial Conference of the Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process as Co-Chair in 2017.
Over the last two days when the large majority of the participants in the Conference were in Amritsar, we had the privilege of arranging visits for them to some places of historical and spiritual significance in this city such as the Golden Temple and Jallianwala Bagh. They also visited the Integrated Check Point at Attari.
Before concluding I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to the Government of Punjab and the people of Amritsar for their whole-hearted support over the last few days for a successful conduct of the Conference.
It has been a privilege for India to Co-chair the Heart of Asia – Istanbul Process in 2016. As we pass on the baton, we look upon the year with satisfaction. We believe that we have contributed in a significant way to the Process through the initiatives we took and the activities we organized for the betterment of Afghanistan. The Amritsar Declaration has also refocused attention to certain core requirements of Afghanistan, embodied in the Declaration’s theme: ‘Addressing Challenges, Achieving Prosperity.’
I would now like to request if Deputy Foreign Minister of Afghanistan Mr. Karzai would like to make his remarks.
Thank you.