Saturday, December 06, 2014
Kabul (BNA) The London Conference on Afghanistan was concluded with the statement of President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani in Britain yesterday.
The president in his address, besides thanking Britain for hosting the conference also paid tribute to 3400 of the NATO-led troops who sacrificed their lives in Afghanistan and more than 30,000 others injured during the mission to fight terror.
With regard to the contribution of the international community to Afghanistan, the president said that the people and the government of Afghanistan are thankful to the world community for its support. Afghanistan a country with 99.9 percent of its population as Muslims is proud of having cooperation with the international community and want these cooperation be continued.
The president also rejected the notion as baseless that Afghan government would collapse due to security problems, saying the Afghan national security forces are capable enough to overcome the security challenges as the experiences have proved over the past four years.
President Ghani also noted that achieving peace is the government prime objective and stated that the national security forces are fully prepared to take over the security charge from the NATO-led forces. On regional cooperation, president Ghani said that his government has initiated proactive talks with the neighboring countries and is satisfied over the outcome.
Afghanistan has one option that is either to change into center of convergence in Asia or isolated in Asia, the president said, adding that is why the government has been trying to create opportunities for its people.
Describing economic achievement as vital the president said that the government would do its best to alleviate poverty in the country. The president also proposed to the international community to channelize the financial support through the government instead of launching projects here in Afghanistan. With regard to government resolve in fighting corruption, the president said that there is no need for the international friends to remind us, as the Afghan government is committed to fight the menace.
Both president Ghani and British Prime Minister David Cameron held a joint press conference and responded to questions. Replying a question, President Ghani said that both Afghanistan and the international community are in harmony because the environment of distrust has ended over the past two months. The world community is not responsible for our future, the president said, adding Afghans themselves should take care of their future. However, the president pointed out that both Afghanistan and the world community have mutual interests and facing common threats and overcoming the threats requires joint cooperation. The president noted that Afghanistan wants cooperation in all fields not only military cooperation, rather, it wants to boost trade and economic cooperation to bring fundamental change in the living condition of the people and achieving this goal needs to open new chapter of cooperation. Expressing satisfaction over the outcome of London conference, President Ghani said that the pledges made by international community at Tokyo Conference were renewed at London Conference.
