Statement by H.E. Zarar Ahmad Osmani Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan at the Thirty-Sixth Session of the Council of Ministers Kathmandu, 25 November 2014 Your Excellency Mr. Mahendra Bahadur Pandey, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nepal, Distinguished Ministers, Mr. Secretary- General, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen It is my great pleasure to join this august Council of Ministers of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation. At the outset, I would like to express our gratitude to the friendly Government of Nepal for hosting this meeting and for the warm welcome and hospitality extended to me and to my delegation in this beautiful city of Kathmandu. I would also like to congratulate His Excellency Mr. Mahendra Bahadur Pandey, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nepal on his election as the Chair of the Council. Let me assure your Excellency of my delegation’s full support and cooperation. Taking this opportunity, I further wish to commend your predecessor, the Maldives, for showing such capable leadership during its tenure. In addition, I thank H.E. Arjun Bahadur Thapa, our Secretary General and his team for their tireless efforts and invaluable services. Excellencies, As we gathered here to deliberate on the issues of our concerns, we are more cognizant than ever before of the immediate nature of the formidable challenges facing the region we live in. While the region has to deal with a number of serious problems such as poverty, energy crisis, environmental degradation, illicit drug trafficking and organized crimes, the scourge of terrorism and extremism is by far the greatest and most menacing of all. These challenges not only hamper the realization of our great potentials for socio-economic development but they also put our future in jeopardy. In view of these challenges, we believe that today, more than ever before, our region demands a sincere commitment to working together to overcome the multifaceted challenges and to create a peaceful and prosperous future for our children. Today, terrorism and extremism in our region is dramatically evolving and threatening regional security and stability. This evil scourge respects no boundaries or religion and its disastrous impact on states is clear to all. Just two days ago, a terrorist attack took lives of 62 innocent children and young Afghans who were playing volleyball in Paktika province of Afghanistan. We are witnessing increased attacks on the civilian targets these days. We believe unless we do not focus, together, on sanctuaries and safe havens of these syndicates in our region, regional security and stability will remain a distant goal and without progress on that front, all our efforts will be in vain. We appreciate the 41st Standing Committee’s recognition of the problem in its report and thank SAARC member states for their messages of condolences conveyed to us. Ladies and Gentlemen, As Afghanistan moves towards transformation decade, the people and government of Afghanistan are determined not only to build upon the achievements of the last thirteen years, but also to put a new foundation of progress and advancement for their country. While we realize that the transformation decade is a period of hopes, expectations and opportunities, major challenges such as achieving security, peace and socio-economic development will also continue to loom large. Given the multitude of challenges and opportunities ahead, we believe that profound regional cooperation and regional engagement are essential for long-term stability and economic development of Afghanistan and the region as a whole. Therefore, today regional stability and prosperity require that we should work together and transform our common challenges into mutual interests. In this regard, SAARC as regional platform for cooperation can play important role and contribute towards promoting conditions for sustainable security and stability as well as economic development in our region. Afghanistan attaches great importance to the principles and objectives of the Association and as a committed member of SAARC, spares no efforts to work closely with the SAARC nations for a stable and prosperous SAARC region. In this regard, we stand ready to use our geographic and historic position to enhance regional connectivity as well as trade and energy flows between Central Asia and South Asia. Moreover, it is a matter of immense pride that the historic city of Bamiyan will be celebrated as the first SAARC Cultural Capital and we believe cultural programs during the year 2015 in Bamiyan will further enhance intercultural understanding among the SAARC nations. I would like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to SAARC Secretariat and SAARC Cultural center for their support and cooperation. Thank you.
Posted on: Tue, 25 Nov 2014 06:00:10 +0000
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