Ministry of External Affairs Government of India

Official Spokesperson, Shri Vikas Swarup: Good evening friends and welcome to this very special briefing on the forthcoming Sixth Ministerial Conference of the Heart of Asia, Istanbul Process which will be held, as you know, in Amritsar on December 03 and 04, 2016.

We are looking forward to welcoming His Excellency President Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan who will jointly inaugurate this conference with our Prime Minister. As you know a large number of countries are represented in Heart of Asia Istanbul Process and we are expecting the details of those to be given by Jt. Secretary (Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran) Shri Gopal Baglay, but it is a special pleasure to have with us today Dr. Shaida Mohammad Abdali, the Ambassador of Afghanistan to India.

So the way we will structure this is, I will first ask the Ambassador to give you the Afghanistan perspective on the Heart of Asia Process because, as you know, this is a process designed precisely to assist Afghanistan in its three transitions. How the neighboring countries of Afghanistan and the larger region can assist the Afghanistan as it combats the challenge of terrorism and move towards peace and prosperity. And then my colleague Gopal will give you broad outline of the program of the Heart of Asia Istanbul Process in Amritsar and also the number of countries, partner organization etc. to be represented there. With that I first give the floor to Ambassador Shaida Mohammad Abdali.

Ambassador of Afghanistan to India, Dr. Shaida M. Abdali: Thank you. A very good evening, Mr. Vikas, Mr. Baglay, distinguished media representatives and ladies & gentlemen. I am very delighted to be present amongst you today and at the outset let me express my heartfelt condolences to the people and government of India for the tragic terror attack on Indian Army base in Nagrota yesterday morning which caused loss of seven soldiers. We condemn it in the strongest possible words.

As you all know that Afghanistan has always stated that terrorism is a continuous threat, especially to India and Afghanistan and of course to many others in the region.

As envisaged and recognized in the Heart of Asia process that unless we take a collective measure to fight terrorism, to fight the breeding ground for terrorism, the safe sanctuary, we will not be able to bring peace and stability either to Afghanistan or to anywhere else in the region, mainly India.

At the same time, as we all know, terrorism is a creation of this region and the solution lies within this region only. Therefore the upcoming Heart of Asia is very well timed and very well placed to discuss how we should find solutions to the theme that we have already put forward, Addressing Challenges and Achieving Prosperity.

First, Addressing Challenges. Let me once again state that terrorism is the greatest threat of this region and to this end we expect the upcoming Heart of Asia to approve the Regional Counter Terrorism Framework that has been drafted by Afghanistan and has been circulated by the counter terrorism CPM countries in Kabul. And we hope that upcoming Heart of Asia Summit event in Amritsar will adopt this counter terrorism framework drafted by Afghanistan.

We welcome the political, economic and security cooperation and commitments of the international community, especially the last two major conferences and we expect the upcoming Heart of Asia to be in the same way, equally supporting Afghanistan for the sake of Afghanistan and for the sake of entire region that brings peace, stability and ensuring prosperity to all of us.

As you all know terrorism is a multi-faceted phenomenon and that requires a multi-faceted approach with measures against recruitment, safe sanctuaries, terrorists’ networks, drug-traffickers and of course with measure, how to de-radicalize societies and communities having the involvement of political figures, religious scholars, educational institutions, opinion makers, youth civil society, mass media and social networks.

Now coming to the second part of the theme which is achieving prosperity, how we can achieve that? As you know the geography of Hearth of Asia countries is such with huge economic potential but unfortunately it is yet to be realized to ensure prosperity for all of us. So the most practical approach to utilize this potential is to have or embrace the notion of connectivity.

As you all know, Afghanistan in this context, has made remarkable progress in the last two years. And I must say that we no longer seek but we offer this connectivity that we have realized for ourselves and for many of our neighbors, to those who have been left out of this connectivity and hope this opportunity in the Amritsar conference will be embraced by those who have not been part of this connectivity and as a result to ensure shared prosperity.

Afghanistan specifically as I have mentioned earlier is located strategically in this region and we hope we agree on the early implementation of CASA-1000, TAPI, TUTAP, Chabahar Transit Agreement that we signed between the three countries i.e. India, Afghanistan and Iran, Five Nation Railway Network and a number of other initiatives or projects that we have agreed upon including North-South-East-West corridor within the region. The Lapis Lazuli corridor of Afghanistan has been successfully conducted with countries involved.

Politically, we expect the Heart of Asia as outlined the Heart of Asia Process that we ensure non-interference and also have an assistance of all the member countries of the Heart of Asia for an Afghan led and Afghan owned peace process.

In the same way we hope and expect that the CBMs under the Heart of Asia Process will be paid more attention in the coming Amritsar conference; that we will be able to agree and also find solution to the already prioritized areas of cooperation under the CBMs. And I must acknowledge here India, especially, leading the trade and transit CMB, for doing a remarkable job. We hope that other lead countries will also follow India’s performance in the CBM that have been assigned to a number of other countries in the Heart of Asia region.

In short, we hope and expect that the upcoming Heart of Asia will be turned into a platform for regional cooperation ensuring peace and prosperity and at the same time addressing the greatest challenge i.e. terrorism. Thank you very much.

Official Spokesperson, Shri Vikas Swarup: Thank you very much Ambassador for the very comprehensive outline of the Afghanistan expectations from the Heart of Asia Istanbul Process, the Ministerial Conference. I now turn to my colleague Mr. Gopal Baglay to brief you on the program elements of the Ministerial Conference.

Jt. Secretary (PAI), Shri Gopal Baglay: Thank you very much. Ambassador, Additional Secretary, colleagues, good afternoon to all of you. The program of the conference, I shall say, comprised of basically two parts. It is spread over two days.

3rd December is the Senior Officials meeting which will be co-chaired by Foreign Secretary of India and Deputy Foreign Minister of Afghanistan, His Excellency Hikmat Khaleel Karzai.

On the 4th of December we will have the Ministerial Conference, which will be co-chaired by the Afghan Foreign Minister. As you know in the Heart of Asia Process, Afghanistan is the permanent chair and India is privileged to be the co-chair. This year the Ministerial Conference will be co-chaired by the Afghan Minister and on our side it will be the Finance Minister, who will be co-chairing along with his Afghan colleague Foreign Minister.

So this is the broad framework. We expect the delegations to be arriving on the 2nd and on the 3rd, we will have discussions on the Heart of Asia Amritsar Conference declaration. We will also discuss, as the Ambassador pointed out, the status of various CBMs, their implementation by various countries.

There are six baskets of these CBMs and we will see where we can expedite the implementation of some of them and augment it according to the current needs. We will also be arranging some programs in Amritsar because Amritsar is a very historical place and as Ambassador indicated, it is a center, it is a hub for connectivity. It has been a hub historically for connectivity between the East and the West and of course, it is the Golden City. So there will be elements to cater to those interests and those aspects of the location as well.

We expect that the delegation led by His Excellency, the President of Afghanistan will arrive sometime in the afternoon of 3rd of December and we will be looking forward to interaction between the President of Afghanistan and our Prime Minister, possibly on that evening so that the next day is free for the conference and deliberations.

We will be very privileged to have the President of Afghanistan and Prime Minister of India, jointly inaugurate the Ministerial Conference on the 4th of December. And after the inaugural session which is brief session of an hour or so, the Ministerial Conference will continue with its agenda. So that is broadly the framework of the program.

Before I handover back to Additional Secretary, I would just like to mention that this year India has tried to bring more discussions and more consultations in the whole process of Heart of Asia. What we have tried to do, together with the cooperation of Heart of Asia countries is to organize in India certain think-tank events.

One of them was organized by the Indian Council of World Affairs recently, the other by IDSA and there will be an event focusing specifically on connectivity that will be done by RIS and FICCI in Amritsar alongside the Senior Officials Meeting. It is not part of the conference but it is a side event because these events bring together more consultations, think-tanks, academics which do not otherwise get an occasion to participate in the conference structure as such.

So with that I will stop here. Thank you.

Official Spokesperson, Shri Vikas Swarup: OK, so now you have a good idea of the program elements of the Heart of Asia Ministerial Conference. You also have a good idea now of what to expect on the political side. The floor is now open for questions.

Question: Sir, Pakistani High Commissioner Basit Ali expressed willingness to have bilateral meeting during this conference. Have they also requested you formally for this and what is the program, if there is any bilateral? And one question to Ambassador of Afghanistan. Sir, in what way presence of Pakistan is helping since it is the mother ship of terrorism?

Jt. Secretary (PAI), Shri Gopal Baglay:A very brief answer to your question. No, that is, we have not received any request.

Official Spokesperson, Shri Vikas Swarup: The position is very clear. We have not received any request from Pakistan for a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Heart of Asia Ministerial Conference. I’ll now turn to Ambassador to answer the second part of the question.

Ambassador of Afghanistan to India, Dr. Shaida M. Abdali: Well, first of all this is a multi-lateral event. It is not a bilateral, it is not a trilateral. Second part of my answer would be that well we are seeking problems and we can only find solutions in place where the problems are coming from.

Question: Question for Mr. Baglay. Sir you just said that we have not received any request from Pakistan for bilateral talks even though they have said so in the media that they are willing to talk. But will there be any offer of talks from the Indian side because over and over again Pakistan has been putting the onus on India saying, it is the host country, they have to make the offer for talks.

Official Spokesperson, Shri Vikas Swarup: This is a question for my press conference tomorrow. This is not a question for the Heart of Asia Ministerial Conference that we are handling. As I said, let’s not make this a Pakistan-India thing. The Heart of Asia is a much larger process which involves 40 countries and partner organizations. Please confine your questions to how the regional countries can assist Afghanistan in its security transitions, economic transitions and political transitions.

Question Contd.: I will add to that. In the Heart of Aisa conference, is India going to make this point about terror emanating from Pakistan?

Jt. Secretary (PAI), Shri Gopal Baglay: I think the Ambassador’s answer was very clear that terrorism is the biggest challenge which has beset the whole region. It is responsible for the situation in Afghanistan right now. It is a major threat of instability, threat to peace so therefore we have to discuss this question and we have to face it very squarely. I think Heart of Asia Ministerial Conference provides us with that opportunity which we require to face this challenge head on.

Question: Ambassador, you were talking about the economic potential of the region, but unless there is peace with the Taliban still in control of so much territory, how do we go about this, I mean how difficult it is? Because it’s a chicken and egg question and unless there is stability people don’t want to invest.

Ambassador of Afghanistan to India, Dr. Shaida M. Abdali:I think you answered yourself, the chicken-egg question. The theme of the conference is such, Security and Prosperity, both complement each another. We are working on both to find solutions. Security, that we unfortunately lack and based on that we will have prosperity.

Question: The President of Afghanistan had just visited Islamabad. Have you received any assurance from Pakistani Government that they will not try to destabilize the democratically elected government of Afghanistan?

Ambassador of Afghanistan to India, Dr. Shaida M. Abdali: You always publicly hear them and we hope that we see that in practical terms and help Afghanistan with peace and stability.

Question: I have two questions on connectivity, if I may Mr. Baglay. If I could just ask you, Chabahar is expected to come up in conversations and is seen as a way of India and Afghanistan to trade given that they have got problems of transit trade through Pakistan. So I just wanted to get a sense of where, what kind of discussions you hope to have on Chabahar. And particularly whether you think the new rush for the Gwadar Port where Iran has signed on, Turkmenistan has signed on, reportedly now Russia is interested too to sign on, will pose a challenge in terms of competition to India’s project in Chabahar?

And Ambassador Dr. Abdali, if I could ask you, your reaction to Taliban spokesperson statement yesterday that the Taliban now plans to back and not put any kind of problems for all the projects that you mentioned, the CASA-1000, the TAPI project as well as some other projects that you spoke about and copper mines as well. The question really is this something that Afghanistan government has been working with the Taliban on?

Jt. Secretary (PAI), Shri Gopal Baglay:Chabahar initiative i.e. the Trilateral Transit and Trade Agreement among India, Iran and Afghanistan is a major regional initiative for connectivity in which, three countries are involved right now but obviously it is open to friendly countries which the countries that are party now find mutually acceptable, so yes it will be a point of conversation.

And I would also like to tell you that we are progressing very well with the overall agreement, of course it needs to be ratified by all the parties but in the meantime we are already working with the governments of Afghanistan and Iran for highlighting the potential of Chabahar and in that sense do an event, let’s say, in Chabahar itself sometime in the near future which involves not merely the governments and experts but also brings together industry and also showcases Chabahar for other countries which can benefit from the enhanced connectivity through Chabahar.

These countries can include Central Asian countries, Russia etc. which are part of the INSTC Corridor which in any case passes through Iran. So these are the efforts for connectivity and as the Ambassador mentioned about the theme of the conference, the whole idea of connectivity dovetails with that theme very well, so yes, it will be part of conversation.

Chabahar itself is not on the agenda as such but yes whatever can be done to enhance the prosperity and connectivity in the region. As far as competition part is concerned, I don’t think it would be. You see, this whole idea is to enhance connectivity and we require everyone which can make constructive contribution to come together on this.

Ambassador of Afghanistan to India, Dr. Shaida M. Abdali: Well, I also heard that statement in the name of the Taliban. I cannot comment on the authenticity of the statement at this stage, but I will only say that we hope that we have a comprehensive peace package with regard to development and lives. It’s not only about development, we should show that it is the peace that brings us lives and prosperity.

Question: Question to Ambassador Abdali and also to Shri Gopal Baglay. You mentioned about the Regional Counter-terrorism Framework, how it is going to deal with the issues of cross-border terrorism, especially the terrorism which is emanating from one country and hitting another country. We have seen incidences of our Indian embassy being hit in Afghanistan also and originating of these terror attacks from different countries?

Ambassador of Afghanistan to India, Dr. Shaida M. Abdali:That is the very question we have raised in the Joint Counter Terrorism Framework and it was agreed in the last Heart of Asia Summit in Islamabad. So we, based on that decision, drafted the framework and circulated among counter-terrorism CBM members and we hope that this would be adopted in upcoming Heart of Asia conference. This addressed the very question that you raised.

Question: Has there been any report that India has been given or will be given responsibility of education in Afghanistan, China that of infrastructure and Pakistan that of security?

Ambassador of Afghanistan to India, Dr. Shaida M. Abdali:There always has been ideas of merging countries in terms of the CBMs. In terms of education, I can say sitting right now in India, I think, India deserves credit in various areas mainly in education. I know that we have thousands of students in India. I think India is already doing very well in various areas including education.

Question: Question for Mr. Baglay. We are handling the trade and transit part for the Heart of Asia. Have we been able to put in some ideas to for increasing trade with Afghanistan, some fresh ideas to boost investments in that country?

Jt. Secretary (PAI), Shri Gopal Baglay:Strictly speaking it is a bilateral question regarding Afghanistan, but if I may, I will say that we have had some extremely useful discussions, very good discussions during the last visit of President Ghani to India in September and very many idea on how to enhance connectivity, overcome current challenges and also expand the trade basket. They have been put on the table since then. It’s been just about two months, we have had very good follow-up visits on either directions and we are working to implement those ideas.

Question: My question is for the Ambassador. You spoke about the counter-terrorism strategy which is likely to be adopted. My question is, Pakistan is a party to whole lot of resolutions for example the 1267 in the UN, even the SAARC Convention on counter-terrorism. What makes this sort of binding on Pakistan? Is there anything at all in the resolution which will pin responsibility, make it binding? And if I could ask you one more thing, this is the sixth Heart of Asia Ministerial, what would say has been the progress since the conference at Istanbul?

Ambassador of Afghanistan to India, Dr. Shaida M. Abdali:Well, let me answer your last question about progress. I think, we have made remarkable progress especially in terms of economic development. In security, I must confess we have not made much progress and that is exactly why we have this time proposed Joint Counter-terrorism Framework.

We have tried a number of mechanisms, we hope and believe that the counter-terrorism framework that we have drafted this time will help us to move forward and be in a better position to ensure we have binding commitments with all including Pakistan to address the problem of terrorism.

Question: Will the counter terrorism framework be a binding one on Pakistan?

Ambassador of Afghanistan to India, Dr. Shaida M. Abdali:That is what we are seeking. We are making sure that we have a mechanism that brings that change. You are right, we have always seen number of promises and mechanisms, lets hope that this one brings a change.

Jt. Secretary (PAI), Shri Gopal Baglay: If I may, I just want to add on the progress part. The Heart of Asia Istanbul Process is a consultative process and I am very happy to tell you that currently we have 14 partner countries, more than 30 supporting countries and organizations and this time for the Amritsar Ministerial we also have request from four countries who want to be the guest country this time, if I may inform you, these are Austria, Latvia, Uzbekistan and Bulgaria.

So obviously what it tells us is that there is interest not merely in the region but in the world that for peace and stability in Afghanistan and Heart of Asia, we all have to work together.

Question: It is for Mr. Baglay. Hon’ble Ambassador Abdali spoke about the counter terrorism framework that needs to be adopted hopefully on the 4th. How is India looking at it? You spoke about terror, yes, but could you elaborate a little. Is there anything in particular of significance because we are talking about Nagrota terror attack which has just happened, hours ago? So is there a particular terminology on terror that we are looking at? State sponsored terror that needs to be condemned at the Heart of Asia, are you looking at particular groups to be named here because you know there are some of the groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba, which are creating havoc in Afghanistan and in India as well, there is Taliban and some other groups like Haqqani Network as well. So what is your definition of terror that needs to be condemned from Heart of Asia together?

Jt. Secretary (PAI), Shri Gopal Baglay:These are certainly matter of details in terms of the framework as such which has been proposed. It is something which is under discussion at an inter-governmental level so I don’t think it will be appropriate for me to, at this stage, go into very specific areas which are contained in the details of this, but if I can address the spirit of your question, what basically we are trying to achieve here are three things.

One, threat of terrorism is the biggest challenge for the peace and stability in the region. Second, there is support in our region and where the problem lies, we all know, it needs to be squarely addressed and third, then we come to the specifics of what we need to do, what are the steps? End the safe havens, stop all support to terrorism, stop glorifying terrorists, these are specific things. But let these discussions and consultations take place, maybe we will have more details for you after the conference.

Official Spokesperson, Shri Vikas Swarup: So in short, wait for the Amritsar Declaration.

Question: A question to the Ambassador. You talked about connectivity. Chabahar port is coming so that will open up the water routes, but how important are the land routes, which are being denied to Afghanistan are a hindrance to the prosperity of Afghanistan and what do you think should be done to take care of it?

Ambassador of Afghanistan to India, Dr. Shaida M. Abdali:Well as earlier indicated, Afghanistan is no longer land-locked, we have broken those shackles. We have been connected by both land and sea nowadays, therefore Afghanistan no longer, as I said earlier, seeks, we offer the opportunities that others should grab to be a part of this connectivity that we have realized in the last two years. Chabahar agreement is an example that Hon’ble Prime Minister called it, a game changer, and we are working on a major summit on Chabahar in the coming months to discuss the port, not only to be used by the three countries but by the region and beyond.

So we have made a lot of progress, of course, Afghanistan and India together no longer face the same problems that we used to. Afghanistan and India are connected through Chabahar and we already had some containers between the two countries through Chabahar. So right now we are working to improve that connectivity but at the same time we offer that we revisit some of the hurdles and we hope that they will also allow the connectivity to take place between the two countries through other alternatives.

Jt. Secretary (PAI), Shri Gopal Baglay:I will add just one sentence to what Ambassador has said, you come to Amritsar, you will see both the potential and the challenge.

Question: My question is addressed to Afghan Ambassador. You know there will be a bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Modi and President Ghani. India just delivered an attack helicopter recently, the fourth one, what kind of discussion can we expect on enhancing security and defence partnership between India and Afghanistan? And the second question is, are we expecting some bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the conference? I am not talking about Pakistan.

Ambassador of Afghanistan to India, Dr. Shaida M. Abdali:Other than India? Sure. As I said earlier, Heart of Asia is a multilateral event and around 40 countries are going to participate, there will be many bilaterals and of course we have received requests from many countries to have bilaterals with us, but of course, the bilateral with India is going to be very important for Afghanistan and I am sure, same for India.

Our President will meet Hon’ble Prime Minister and our bilateral discussion are always in the context of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement that includes cooperation in all areas and security will definitely be a part of the discussion.

We thank, once again, India for giving the fourth helicopter to Afghanistan and of course this is a relation which will only grow.

Question: My question is to the Afghan Ambassador. You spoke about the importance of security because without that no development is possible. A few months ago when the attack on American University in Kabul took place, your President had then called up the then Pakistan Army Chief demanding that action be taken, but the experience was that nothing was done because General Sharif was seen as using these terrorists as strategic assets. With a new Army Chief in Pakistan now in place, are you hopeful that things will take a turn for the better?

Ambassador of Afghanistan to India, Dr. Shaida M. Abdali:Well, I mentioned earlier in details that greatest challenge is terrorism and it is a fact now that we are affected as well as India is affected by cross-border terrorism in the same way and therefore we are emphasizing more on the question of terrorism in the upcoming Heart of Asia conference to discuss how we can find solution to the problem, which affects us but at the same time affects the people of Pakistan as well.

You can see the bombs, terrorist attacks affecting the common ordinary people of Afghanistan. So we hope we find solution to the problem for the sake of countries like Afghanistan and India, for the sake of countries where terrorism is being nurtured because it is affecting people there as well.

On the question of Army Chief, I cannot comment till we see things on the ground, how they are unfolding under his leadership.

Question: Who are the other leaders who are coming?

Jt. Secretary (PAI), Shri Gopal Baglay:I did mention to you about President Ghani, who will be there. And of course there will be the Afghan Foreign Minister and other senior dignitaries from Afghanistan in their delegation.

From other countries, we have confirmations so far from Iran, of their Foreign Minister’s participation. The Kyrgyz Republic, Turkmenistan, Turkey and also I think European Union is sending the Slovak Foreign Minister as the representative of the Ms. Mogaleni who has some commitment regarding some Italian domestic political process. These are the ministerial confirmations.

Together with India and Afghanistan, eight ministers and of course the Sartaj Aziz sahib, the advisor to the Prime Minister of Pakistan and there are several others at the level of first deputy minister or deputy minister.

For US, I think the lady who has succeeded Ms. Olson i.e. Ms. Laurel Miller will be leading the US delegation. UK also the S-REPs from UK and USA. For China, it would be Assistant Foreign Minister. For Russia, it would be SREP and the counterpart that we have, Mr. Kabulov.

Official Spokesperson, Shri Vikas Swarup: I think we have exhausted all the questions. Let me thank first of all our Ambassador from Afghanistan Dr. Abdali and my colleague Gopal Baglay for providing you with this very comprehensive briefing. I look forward to seeing all of you at Amritsar for the Heart of Asia Process. There will be a full-fledged media center and we will be doing daily briefings, as appropriate.