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Ghani Discusses Afghan Peace With Saudi Officials
President Ashraf Ghani is on an official visit in Saudi Arabia to discuss the issues around the Afghan peace process with Saudi officials, an advisor for Ghani confirms to Ariana News.
“Saudi Arabia is an influential Arab country and has always sided with Afghanistan on important issues, especially peace, so President went to Saudi to hold meetings on this issue with them (Saudi officials),” says Nabi Musdaq, a cultural advisor for president Ghani.
Meanwhile, Allah Gul Mujahid, an Afghan Parliament member also states that the Taliban has requested the release of its prisoners from Bagram and Pul-e-Charkhi prisons and has also agreed on the formation of an interim government in Afghanistan. This issue has concerned Mr. Ghani, therefore he headed to Saudi.
In the second day of his trip, President Ghani met with The Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Dr. Yousef A. Al-Othaimeen, the Presidential Palace said in a statement. Dr. Yousef reiterated OIC’s support of Afghan Peace and Afghan Presidential election, the statement added.
According to the statement, Ghani also met with Dr. Bandar Al-Hajjar, Chairman of the Islamic Development Bank. In this meeting, Afghan Acting Minister of Finance Dr. Qayoumi and IsDB Chairman Dr. Al-Hajjar signed the agreement on construction of one 100-bed hospital and four clinics in Afghanistan, Arg said.
This comes as the ninth round of U.S.-Taliban peace talks entered its fourth day and sources familiar to the talks says that ceasefire has been discussed in the fourth day and a full withdrawal of the U.S. forces has been agreed.
Qatar, the host for Taliban Political Office and U.S.-Taliban talks is a regional rival for Saudi Arabia, therefore President Ghani’s trip to Saudi is considered to be significant.
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Girls’ education is a ‘vital issue’ for Afghanistan: Karzai
Former president Hamid Karzai said in a meeting with Iran’s ambassador and special representative, Hassan Kazemi Qomi, that education of girls was a “vital issue” for Afghanistan.
Karzai said he appreciated Iran’s cooperation and its standing with the Afghan people, especially Iran’s contributions to education in Afghanistan.
During the meeting, Karzai said peace and stability in the region are in the interest of all regional countries.
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Uzbekistan’s humanitarian aid arrives in Balkh
A shipment of humanitarian aid from Uzbekistan was handed over on Thursday to the local officials of Balkh province in the trade port of Hairatan.
Local authorities said the aid, which includes flour, oil, wheat, sugar and meat, has been handed over by Uzbekistan’s Surkhandarya governor to the governor of Balkh.
The governor of Surkhandarya stated the purpose of sending this aid was to support the people of Afghanistan and stressed the need for the development of good relations between the two countries.
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Afghanistan’s problems caused more damage to Pakistan than 3 wars with India: Durrani
Islamabad’s special envoy for Afghanistan Asif Durrani said on Wednesday that Pakistan has suffered more due to Afghanistan’s internal situation than Pakistan has suffered in three wars with India in terms of blood spilt and finances drained.
Durrani said at a one-day International Conference titled “Pakistan in the Emerging Geopolitical Landscape”, which was organized by the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI) and the German Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), that over 80,000 Pakistanis died in the two decades of the War on Terror and that his country was still counting its dead and injured.
“After the withdrawal of NATO forces, it was hoped that peace in Afghanistan would bring peace to the region. However, such expectations were short-lived,” he said.
He also stated that attacks by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militant group on Pakistan’s border areas increased by 65 percent, while suicide attacks increased by 500 percent.
“The TTP’s enhanced attacks on Pakistan while using Afghan soil have been a serious concern for Pakistan. Another worrying aspect is the participation of Afghan nationals in these attacks,” he said.
Durrani also said Pakistan had suffered geopolitically since the Soviet Union invaded the neighboring country.
“The post-9/11 world order has negatively impacted Pakistan. Apart from losing 80,000 citizens’ lives, including 8,000 law enforcement agency personnel, the country’s economic opportunity cost is estimated at $150 billion,” Durrani said.
Talking about the future outlook for Pakistan in the regional context, Durrani said that while “our eastern neighbor is likely to continue with its anti-Pakistan pursuits, the western border poses an avoidable irritant in the short to medium term.”
However, he said Pakistan can overcome its difficulties with Afghanistan, including the TTP challenge.
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