Monday September 28, 2015
Kabul (BNA) The tripartite meeting of Afghanistan, United States of America and China titled “Peaceful reconstruction of Afghanistan and regional cooperation” was held in New York the other day, BNA reported.
In the meeting attended among others by chief executive Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, foreign minister Salahudin Rabbani, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, foreign ministers of China, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan neighboring states and donor nations, the chief executive said in his speech that Afghanistan besides making progress is still facing challenges. The government of Afghanistan is determined to bring reforms and improve security situation in the country, Abdullah said, adding to achieve the goal, it needs international cooperation. Describing terrorism and extremism as a threat to the region, Dr. Abdullah noted that overcoming the menace of terrorism requires honest cooperation of the countries in the region. To overcome the war on terror, the countries in the region especially Pakistan can play effective role, Abdullah asserted.
Dr. Abdullah also added that Afghan government supports peace process and returning honorable peace in the country. Speaking at the meeting, John Kerry said that Washington would continue to support national unity government and its reform programs in Afghanistan. The cooperation of China for achieving peace and stability in Afghanistan is significant, Kerry said, adding US would welcome any cooperation of China to Afghanistan. US Secretary of State also added that the Afghan national security forces alone bear the responsibility to ensure security of their country and Washington appreciates their ability in brining security to Afghanistan. The United States would continue to support Afghanistan government programs for reforms, good governance, war on corruption, fighting drug and efforts to have friendly relations with its neighboring countries, John Kerry added, saying the US from now on would remain a strong partner of Afghanistan and called upon international community to help Afghanistan government in implementing its programs. Chinese foreign minister Wang yee said in his address that Beijing would continue to support all the programs of the leaders of national unity government to bring reforms.
The foreign minister of China also noted that the reconstruction process of Afghanistan needs regional cooperation and above all the countries in the region have to cooperate against security threats and bolster peace and security in Afghanistan. A joint communiqué was also issued at the end of the meeting to seek regional cooperation with regard to Afghanistan. According to another report, Bill Gates, Head of the Gates Foundation and Co-Founder of Microsoft met with CEO Abdullah Abdullah and discussed to eradicate polio virus from Afghanistan. A statement issued by the office of Chief Executive (CE) Dr. Abdullah Abdullah yesterday states that Gates praised the efforts of the government in fight against the polio virus but hoped that the National Unity Government (NUG) would take more strict actions against it. The statement further states that CE Abdullah reiterated government’ resolve to Gates regarding the fight about polio and other deadly diseases. CE Abdullah urged Gate to expand his activities in Afghanistan and assist the MoPH in eradication of deadly diseases. This comes as The World Health Organization (WHO) said Nigeria and Africa as a whole are now closer to being certified polio-free. It warned that polio remains endemic in Afghanistan and Pakistan and that as long as the disease exists anywhere “it’s a threat to children everywhere”.
