Terrorism a sinister threat to South Asia’s security - Afghan
President
The speech by Afghan President Hamid Karzai at the SAARC Heads of
State Summit on Saturday in Colombo.
I present the warm wishes of the Afghan people to each and all of you
in this august gathering. Addressing, in particular, my friend Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh, I once again share my deep sense of shock and
pain for the loss of precious Indian and Afghan lives at the bombing of
Indian Embassy in Kabul on 7 July.
You
will agree with me that no amount of outrage and condemnation can
suffice to express the anger and frustration we all feel when faced with
such mindless brutality and violence.
I am sure you realize that these terrorist attacks, callous and
destructive as they are, point to a rapidly growing threat that we face,
not just in Afghanistan or India, but throughout the entire SAARC
region.
As we gather today at the 15th SAARC Summit, we are more cognizant
than ever before of the immediate nature of the challenges facing the
region we live in. Indeed, over the past twenty three years of SAARC’s
existence, I cannot think of a period when the need for collective
action against challenges that affect us all was more pressing than it
is today.
While the region has to deal with a myriad of serious problems such
as chronic poverty, food and energy shortages, environmental degradation
and the like, terrorism is by far the greatest and most menacing of all.
These challenges do not just prevent the realization of our great
potentials for growth and prosperity; they put our future gravely at
risk.
On terrorism, while the people of Afghanistan today are bearing the
brunt of international terrorism on a daily basis, it is with tremendous
trepidation that we are watching the wildfire of terrorism spreading
across the region.
In Pakistan, terrorism and its sanctuaries are gaining a deeper grip,
as demonstrated by the tragic assassination of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto.
The indiscriminate attacks on civilians in Colombo earlier this year,
the recent terrorist bombings in the Indian cities of Bangalore and
Ahmedabad, and attacks in Kabul were yet other grim reminders of the
growing reach of terrorists across the wider region.
In a region prone to many challenges, terrorism may well prove to be
the most destabilizing.
Terrorism in our region feeds on a residual tradition of
narrow-minded politics, and of pursuing outmoded geopolitical interests.
While existing on the absolute fringes of our tolerant and peace-loving
societies, terrorists in our region receive institutional nurturing and
support.
It is this embedded nature of terrorism that makes it a much more
sinister threat to our common security, and to the future of our
children. It is for the sake of our common security and for the future
of our children that we must counter the spread of terrorism, urgently
and decisively.
It is time we focus, together, on fighting extremism and terrorism,
as the enemies that we have in common. It is time we all realize that
the pursuit of narrow geopolitical interests and the use of militant
radicalism as an instrument of policy cannot succeed or serve any long
term purpose.
I must re-emphasise that the challenge of terrorism must be overcome
in order for us to realize the potential of greater regional economic
integration. Through greater economic integration, we can work towards
shared prosperity and improve the welfare of our people.
We must identify what resources, potential and comparative advantages
our respective countries offer and work towards the common framework
offered by SAARC to maximize these advantages for our people as a whole.
The food crisis in our region is a particularly serious challenge.
High food prices are putting reforms, growth strategies, and most
importantly, lives at risk. It brings to sharp perspective the urgency
for more rapid progress to be made on the establishment of the SAARC
Food Bank.
To mitigate future shocks, we must also make rapid progress on the
development of a regional food security strategy that includes early
warning systems on food vulnerabilities. Preparedness must be the
cornerstone of our regional response to food shortages.
Important as it is to be focused on the needs of the people put at
risk by the current crisis, it is equally important for us to ensure
food security in the longer term. To this end, the SAARC members must
dramatically increase investments in agriculture and rural development.
My government has identified agriculture, irrigation and energy as
priority sectors under Afghanistan’s National Development Strategy.
We are looking to enhance our agricultural products and productivity
by investing across the value chain: land use; water management and
irrigation; infrastructures and logistics; and credit for farmers.
We warmly welcome opportunities to benefit from our SAARC partners’
knowledge, experience, and best practices in agriculture and rural
development. Access to reliable and continued energy sources will define
the pace of our economic growth.
We believe that Afghanistan can play a critical role in addressing
the growing demand for energy in the southern parts of our region and
respond to the alarming increase in the price of crude oil by
facilitating the transfer of energy from Central to South Asia. It has
been estimated that energy needs of South Asia will increase threefold
in the next fifteen to twenty years.
Afghanistan can serve as the shortest and least expensive route of
transferring energy from Central to South Asia, where the demand for
energy is growing constantly. We have already made some progress in the
transfer of power from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan through Afghanistan to
Pakistan.
With further support, this process can be expedited.Afghanistan has
the potential to generate a significant amount of hydro electric power.
Investing in hydro power plants in Afghanistan and taking action on the
transfer of energy from Central Asia, through Afghanistan, to South Asia
is one of the most efficient ways of meeting the challenge of energy
shortages in the SAARC region.
The construction of the pipeline to transfer natural gas from
Turkmenistan, through Afghanistan to Pakistan and India is also of vital
importance to our region and deserves to be given serious attention and
urgency.
Trade, flow of people and ideas will strengthen economic integration
and progress in South Asia. Afghanistan is rightly placed to play a key
role towards connecting people and expanding markets with and across the
wider region. We have undertaken a number of measures towards
strengthening our capacity to serve as an effective route by opening new
corridors and improving border facilities.
We have liberalized our air transportation policies and simplified
transit and custom procedures. We have also taken concrete measures in
building our national highway system towards improving the transport of
goods and people in the region and closing the distance between our
countries.
As part of the contract with a Chinese consortium for the exploration
of the Aynak copper deposit, a railway line will be constructed which
will connect Central Asia to South Asia, thereby expediting the
transport of people and goods within the region and beyond.
I repeat Afghanistan’s commitment to regional cooperation, and our
conviction that SAARC’s success, and our ability to compete globally,
will depend on strengthening and integrating our economies and on
working collectively to defeat terrorism in the region. We are at a
critical juncture and much hangs in the balance.
It is time we open our hearts and minds to the prospects of a new,
better and more peaceful future for our countries.
This is only possible through peaceful co-existence, recognition of
our interdependence and enhanced economic cooperation. We will prevail
if we recognize that our common interests are greater than our
differences and if we marshal the political will to address the
challenges we face as a region through concerted action. This is the way
forward. |