It is important to have open discussions among regional countries regarding the stability of Afghanistan, said Indian scholar Dr Smruti Pattanaik at the international seminar on "Stabilising Afghanistan: Regional Perspectives and Prospects", which started on Wednesday. She said that neither India nor Pakistan wanted the Afghan territory to be used adversely.
Furthermore she said that like China, India was not interested in sending troops to Afghanistan, and added that India had trained Afghanistan's police and civil servant personnel. Emphasising on the Indo-Pak role regarding Afghanistan, Pattanaik said both countries have completely different roles in the land locked country however it is necessary that Indian interests must be looked in the geo-political context.
An Uzbek delegate Mir Shahid Aslanov explained his country's stand on Afghanistan's situation in the words of President Islam Karimov that there was no military solution to the long-awaited Afghan problem. He said that Afghanistan needed targeted economic aid and internal rapprochement among the ethnic communities plus active participation of the US, Russia and Nato.
An Afghan delegate Liaqat Ali Amiri stressed on admitting the problems the region faced. He said Afghanistan was in a transitional stage from tradition to modernity. He also said that those who joined the Taliban lost their choice.
The Taliban made no distinction between Pakistanis, Russians, Americans or Uzbeks in their approach, therefore, there was a need to recognise the enemy in the form of the Taliban, Amiri maintained, suggesting that most important thing was a trilateral co-operation.
Mahmood Khan Achakzai warned Pakistan to be very careful and vigilant and not to dismiss charges of being a terrorist sponsor through words only, but by real actions as well. He said Afghanistan demands recognition of its sovereignty, integrity and non-interference in its internal affairs. If this is guaranteed, Kabul-Islamabad can be true friends.
He further said Afghan nation is in the heart of Asia and if it is divided into pieces then Asia would be torn to pieces. Achakzai said Pakistan is being blamed for terrorism, however, irony is that, he questioned, from where the terrorists entered the tribal belt of Pakistan when one has to get a permit from the concerned authority to buy utensils.
Answering a question, he said Iran and Pakistan must assure Afghan territorial guarantee, which is a pre-requisite for restoring peace in Afghanistan. Giving a detailed account of the civil and defence structure that has developed in the nine years after the toppling of Taliban regime, Saifullah Ahmadzai, a scholar and a journalist from Afghanistan urged the need for "carrot and stick" approach.
He said Afghan government must build trust among the locals, as it faced the problem of professional workforce in the institutions. He made it clear that disputes could be resolved through - jirga system, which was baldly damaged.
Tanvir Ahmad Khan winding up the third session said the Taliban era was not of state building, it was a movement. He emphasised the role of the tribal system which the Taliban had dismantled.
He rejected the idea of a de-facto partition of Afghanistan as a dangerous suggestion. Tanvir asserted the critical geo-politics of Pak-Afghan neighbourhood which could not be wished away. Dr Vladimir Boyko from the Russian Republic said his country was also faced with the problem of terrorism. He said Taliban could not return to power again as when they were in power they failed to offer an alternative system of governance.
Dr Syed Akhtar Hussain Shah spoke on the economic potential of a peaceful Afghanistan. Balbaeva Gulkaiyr, expert at Shanghai Co-operation Organisation (SCO) Secretariat, China said the SCO believed that the settlement of Afghan problem is impossible by solely relying on increasing militarization without negotiations under the UN auspices.
Muhammad Jasim Uddin from Bangladesh spoke on SAARC's prospective role in promoting economic development in Afghanistan. Hasham Babar, an ANP leader, commented that by implementing wrong policies, Pakistan had become a security state restricting its own role in the economic development of the region.
Chief Guest of the final session Dr Azmat Hayat Khan, V.C Peshawar University, said resistance in Afghanistan is nationalistic, not religious. Russians are highly respected in Afghanistan and forces from Pakistan, Bangladesh and other regional countries should replace the US allies and Nato, he said.
Martin Axmann, Resident representative HSF in his concluding remarks said Afghan sovereignty should be respected and no one should interfere in Afghan internal affairs. What is important is economic co-operation between Afghanistan and Pakistan. He also advocated increased integration of Afghanistan in the SAARC.
Dr Noor ul Haq of IPRI presented various recommendations made by the participants. Dr Maqsudul Hasan Nuri, Acting President IPRI, thanked all for their enthusiastic participation and hoped that ideas floated by the scholars would reach the policy makers.
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