Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani during his speech at the Heart of Asia conference in Dushanbe thanked India for supporting the Afghan Peace process.

He said, “We acknowledge and appreciate the support and commitment of our other partners such as Iran, India, Saudi Arabia, UAE as well as our Central Asian neighbours to the Afghanistan peace process."

New Delhi has multiple times backed the Afghan govt when it comes to the Afghan peace process.&nbsp;

India's then envoy to Qatar P Kumaran was present at the signing of the US-Taliban pact in February of 2020. External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar joined the start of Intra-Afghan talks in September.

The Afghan President highlighted India's connectivity projects that led to increased trade between the two countries. He said, "thanks to cooperation with India, we demonstrated the feasibility of an air corridor."

India-Afghanistan air corridor started in 2017 opened a huge Indian market for Afghan good. Various Air corridors now connect Afghanistan to 55 different countries making the land-locked country, a land-linked country. India has invested at the Chabahar Port that connects India with Afghanistan and beyond.

President Ghani also mentioned Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran (TAPI) pipeline.&nbsp;

He said, “I’d also like to thank Pakistan, Turkmenistan, and India for agreeing with us to broaden the scope of TAPI to encompass the TAP transmission line, the installation of fibre optics, thereby changing the project into a developmental corridor and the site for the growth of clusters."

Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani during his speech at the Heart of Asia conference in Dushanbe thanked India for supporting the Afghan Peace process. He said, “We acknowledge and appreciate the support and commitment of our other partners such as Iran, India, Saudi Arabia, UAE as well as our Central Asian neighbours to the Afghanistan peace process.

Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani during his speech at the Heart of Asia conference in Dushanbe thanked India for supporting the Afghan Peace process. He said, “We acknowledge and appreciate the support and commitment of our other partners such as Iran, India, Saudi Arabia, UAE as well as our Central Asian neighbours to the Afghanistan peace process." New Delhi has multiple times backed the Afghan govt when it comes to the Afghan peace process. India's then envoy to Qatar P Kumaran was present at the signing of the US-Taliban pact in February of 2020. External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar joined the start of Intra-Afghan talks in September. The Afghan President highlighted India's connectivity projects that led to increased trade between the two countries. He said, "thanks to cooperation with India, we demonstrated the feasibility of an air corridor." India-Afghanistan air corridor started in 2017 opened a huge Indian market for Afghan good. Various Air corridors now connect Afghanistan to 55 different countries making the land-locked country, a land-linked country. India has invested at the Chabahar Port that connects India with Afghanistan and beyond. President Ghani also mentioned Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran (TAPI) pipeline. He said, “I’d also like to thank Pakistan, Turkmenistan, and India for agreeing with us to broaden the scope of TAPI to encompass the TAP transmission line, the installation of fibre optics, thereby changing the project into a developmental corridor and the site for the growth of clusters."

Afghanistan president thanks India for support on the peace process, connectivity at Heart of Asia conference

Pakistan Foreign Minister <a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/pakistani-foreign-minister-meets-newly-elected-sri-lankan-president-in-colombo-visit-265764">Shah Mahmood Qureshi</a> on Monday boycotted the speech of Minister of State VK Singh at the Heart of Asia Conference here.

As soon as the Indian delegate started speaking at the conference, which aims to promote peace in Afghanistan, Qureshi left his seat and walked out.

The Pakistan Foreign Minister boycotted Singh`s speech as a mark of protest over India`s move to revoke Article 370 of its Constitution that accorded special status to Kashmir.

In September, Qureshi had similarly boycotted Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar`s speech at a SAARC ministerial meeting on the sidelines of the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/un-general-assembly-2019-what-to-expect-at-the-74th-session-this-week-251385">UN General Assembly in New York</a>.

The meeting saw high-voltage drama with Qureshi first holding up the meeting and then refusing to attend the conference until Jaishankar finished his statement.

Responding to Pakistan`s disruption of the meeting, Jaishankar left after addressing the gathering which included leaders and representatives from the regional organisation.It was only after Jaishankar left that Qureshi made an entrance at least half an hour after the meeting had commenced.

Meanwhile, Monday`s conference themed `Peace, Partnership, Prosperity` was innagurated by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Afghan counterpart Ashraf Ghani at the Dolmabahce Palace, located on the Bosphorous Strait.

In his speech, Erdogan called on the international community to boost investments in Afghanistan during "sensitive" times the country has been going through.

"Afghanistan has been going through a sensitive period. As international community, we need to boost the investments we have been making for Afghanistan for the last 18 years," he added.

The initiative "aims to enhance regional cooperation towards Afghanistan," the Turkish foreign ministry said.

The Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process - a regional initiative of <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/taliban-wants-to-make-a-deal-trump-in-afghanistan-265151">Afghanistan</a> and Turkey launched in 2011 - has two chairs with Afghanistan as the permanent chair, and a co-chair from among the member states that shifts each year.

"The process aims to promote regional security, economic and political cooperation centred on Afghanistan through dialogue and confidence-building measures," according to the organisation`s website.

At the ongoing conference, Turkey will hand over its co-chairmanship, which it assumed in 2017 at the 7th Ministerial Conference in Baku, to Tajikistan.

Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Monday boycotted the speech of Minister of State VK Singh at the Heart of Asia Conference here. As soon as the Indian delegate started speaking at the conference, which aims to promote peace in Afghanistan, Qureshi left his seat and walked out.

Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Monday boycotted the speech of Minister of State VK Singh at the Heart of Asia Conference here. As soon as the Indian delegate started speaking at the conference, which aims to promote peace in Afghanistan, Qureshi left his seat and walked out. The Pakistan Foreign Minister boycotted Singh`s speech as a mark of protest over India`s move to revoke Article 370 of its Constitution that accorded special status to Kashmir. In September, Qureshi had similarly boycotted Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar`s speech at a SAARC ministerial meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. The meeting saw high-voltage drama with Qureshi first holding up the meeting and then refusing to attend the conference until Jaishankar finished his statement. Responding to Pakistan`s disruption of the meeting, Jaishankar left after addressing the gathering which included leaders and representatives from the regional organisation.It was only after Jaishankar left that Qureshi made an entrance at least half an hour after the meeting had commenced. Meanwhile, Monday`s conference themed `Peace, Partnership, Prosperity` was innagurated by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Afghan counterpart Ashraf Ghani at the Dolmabahce Palace, located on the Bosphorous Strait. In his speech, Erdogan called on the international community to boost investments in Afghanistan during "sensitive" times the country has been going through. "Afghanistan has been going through a sensitive period. As international community, we need to boost the investments we have been making for Afghanistan for the last 18 years," he added. The initiative "aims to enhance regional cooperation towards Afghanistan," the Turkish foreign ministry said. The Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process - a regional initiative of Afghanistan and Turkey launched in 2011 - has two chairs with Afghanistan as the permanent chair, and a co-chair from among the member states that shifts each year. "The process aims to promote regional security, economic and political cooperation centred on Afghanistan through dialogue and confidence-building measures," according to the organisation`s website. At the ongoing conference, Turkey will hand over its co-chairmanship, which it assumed in 2017 at the 7th Ministerial Conference in Baku, to Tajikistan.

Pakistan Finance Minister Qureshi boycotts V K Singh's speech at Istanbul conference

It doesn&#39;t get more direct than what President Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan had to say at Amritsar on Sunday.

&quot;Pakistan,&quot; he told representatives of nearly 50 countries or organisations, including Pakistan foreign affairs and security adviser Sartaj Aziz, who had gathered in the northern Indian town for the sixth edition of the Heart of Asia - Istanbul Process on Afghanistan,&nbsp;&quot;has pledged 500 million dollars for Afghanistan&rsquo;s development. This amount, Mr Aziz, can be spent to fight terrorists and extremists in Pakistan.&quot;

TV cameras did not capture Aziz&#39;s expression but the sting in&nbsp;Ghani&#39;s words was not lost on anyone. The Afghan President did not stop at that. 
 
&ldquo;A key Taliban leader,&quot; the Afghan President said, &quot;has himself admitted to getting sanctuary in Pakistan. He said that without Pakistan support, we would have&nbsp;not lasted for more than a month.&rdquo; 
 
As if on cue, Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, who co-chaired the conference with Ghani, called for action &quot;against those who support, shelter, train and finance&quot; terrorists.&nbsp;

&quot;Silence and inaction against terrorism in Afghanistan and our region will only embolden terrorists and their masters,&quot; he continued in the same vein.

This double-barrelled attack on Pakistan, by the Afghan and Indian leaders, was in keeping with India&#39;s attempts of late to shame their common neighbour and further isolate it diplomatically.&nbsp;The bonhomie between Kabul and New Delhi extended to the bilateral talks between Ghani and Modi on the margins of the conference.

Economic partnership via trade and connectivity, development assistance and security cooperation were among the bilateral, regional and global issues that came up for discussion in their meeting.

Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said that Ghani and Modi agreed to strengthen counter-terrorism cooperation to combat especially the cross-border nature of the scourge which had caused immense suffering to the people of India and Afghanistan.

Both countries decided to operationalise the additional one billion meant as Indian development assistance for infrastructure and connectivity projects. They also plan to introduce an air transport corridor between India and Afghanistan&nbsp;to give India and Afghan consumers and producers unimpeded access to each other&#39;s products and services.

Modi was to amplify it later by saying that &quot;Afghanistan should be at the centre of our connectivity networks, not peripheral to them. On our part, we see Afghanistan as the hub for strengthening links of connectivity between South Asia and Central Asia&quot;.&nbsp;

&quot;We,&quot; he said, &quot;cannot deny that the more connected Afghanistan is with the regional arteries of trade, capital and markets, the more assured would be its economic growth and progress. President Ghani and I have converged on the priority of strengthening trade and transport linkages with other partners in the region.&quot;

For his part, Ghani said that all the countries in Afghanistan&#39;s neighbourhood and beyond &quot;need to identify cross-border terrorism and a fund to combat terrorism&quot;. He lauded India&#39;s development role in his war-torn country by saying that Indian assistance is transparent and came without without strings attached. &quot;There are no hidden agreements [or] secret conditions...it is convergence of interests and values of two states inspired by the belief in cooperative advantage.&quot;

Aziz defended by saying in his intervention afterwards at the conference that &quot;it is simplistic to blame only one country for the recent upsurge in violence&quot; in Afghanistan. In an oblique reference to the continued India - Pakistan tensions, he said that peaceful resolution of outstanding disputes will further improve regional cooperation and connectivity in the region. (Pakistan does not allow India access through its territory for exporting goods to Afghanistan.) 
 
However, at a joint news conference with Deputy Foreign Minister Hekmat Karzai of Afghanistan, Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley (standing in for Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj, who is indisposed) said that terrorism was at the very core of the deliberations and that the tone had been set by Ghani and Modi earlier in the day. 
 
Karzai, in turn, spoke about how Pakistan, without naming it, is nurturing and flirting with terrorism, which has consequences not only for Pakistan itself but also for the region. 
 
The participating countries, Jaitley added, recognised that terrorism was the biggest threat to peace and stability and the Amritsar Declaration (see below) adopted towards the end of the summit expressed concern over violence perpetrated by terrorist groups, such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad.

If there were fears that India - Pakistan tensions would hijack the conference agenda, it was not to be. In the end, Aziz&#39;s engagements did not go beyond the customary handshake and photo-op with Modi. Indian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup maintained that there was no pull-aside or bilateral meeting between Aziz and Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval either.&nbsp;

An excerpt from the Amritsar Declaration:

&quot;We remain concerned by the gravity of the security situation in Afghanistan in particular and the region and the high level of violence caused by the Taliban, terrorist groups including ISIL / DAISHand its affiliates, the Haqqani Network, Al Qaida, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, East Turkistan Islamic Movement, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, TTP, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, Jundullah and other foreign terrorist fighters. Acknowledging the support that terrorism derives in our region, we demand an immediate end to all forms of terrorism, as well as all support to it, including financing of terrorism. We recognize that terrorism is the biggest threat to peace, stability and cooperation in our region. We encourage the international community to continue to assist the Government of Afghanistan. We strongly call for concerted regional and international cooperation to ensure elimination of terrorism, in all its forms and manifestations, including dismantling of terrorist sanctuaries and safe havens in the Heart of Asia region, as well as disrupting all financial, tactical and logistical support for terrorism.&quot;

(WION)

Silence and inaction against terrorism in Afghanistan and our region will only embolden terrorists and their masters: Modi

It doesn't get more direct than what President Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan had to say at Amritsar on Sunday. "Pakistan," he told representatives of nearly 50 countries or organisations, including Pakistan foreign affairs and security adviser Sartaj Aziz, who had gathered in the northern Indian town for the sixth edition of the Heart of Asia - Istanbul Process on Afghanistan, "has pledged 500 million dollars for Afghanistan’s development. This amount, Mr Aziz, can be spent to fight terrorists and extremists in Pakistan." TV cameras did not capture Aziz's expression but the sting in Ghani's words was not lost on anyone. The Afghan President did not stop at that. “A key Taliban leader," the Afghan President said, "has himself admitted to getting sanctuary in Pakistan. He said that without Pakistan support, we would have not lasted for more than a month.” As if on cue, Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, who co-chaired the conference with Ghani, called for action "against those who support, shelter, train and finance" terrorists. "Silence and inaction against terrorism in Afghanistan and our region will only embolden terrorists and their masters," he continued in the same vein. This double-barrelled attack on Pakistan, by the Afghan and Indian leaders, was in keeping with India's attempts of late to shame their common neighbour and further isolate it diplomatically. The bonhomie between Kabul and New Delhi extended to the bilateral talks between Ghani and Modi on the margins of the conference. Economic partnership via trade and connectivity, development assistance and security cooperation were among the bilateral, regional and global issues that came up for discussion in their meeting. Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said that Ghani and Modi agreed to strengthen counter-terrorism cooperation to combat especially the cross-border nature of the scourge which had caused immense suffering to the people of India and Afghanistan. Both countries decided to operationalise the additional one billion meant as Indian development assistance for infrastructure and connectivity projects. They also plan to introduce an air transport corridor between India and Afghanistan to give India and Afghan consumers and producers unimpeded access to each other's products and services. Modi was to amplify it later by saying that "Afghanistan should be at the centre of our connectivity networks, not peripheral to them. On our part, we see Afghanistan as the hub for strengthening links of connectivity between South Asia and Central Asia". "We," he said, "cannot deny that the more connected Afghanistan is with the regional arteries of trade, capital and markets, the more assured would be its economic growth and progress. President Ghani and I have converged on the priority of strengthening trade and transport linkages with other partners in the region." For his part, Ghani said that all the countries in Afghanistan's neighbourhood and beyond "need to identify cross-border terrorism and a fund to combat terrorism". He lauded India's development role in his war-torn country by saying that Indian assistance is transparent and came without without strings attached. "There are no hidden agreements [or] secret conditions...it is convergence of interests and values of two states inspired by the belief in cooperative advantage." Aziz defended by saying in his intervention afterwards at the conference that "it is simplistic to blame only one country for the recent upsurge in violence" in Afghanistan. In an oblique reference to the continued India - Pakistan tensions, he said that peaceful resolution of outstanding disputes will further improve regional cooperation and connectivity in the region. (Pakistan does not allow India access through its territory for exporting goods to Afghanistan.) However, at a joint news conference with Deputy Foreign Minister Hekmat Karzai of Afghanistan, Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley (standing in for Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj, who is indisposed) said that terrorism was at the very core of the deliberations and that the tone had been set by Ghani and Modi earlier in the day. Karzai, in turn, spoke about how Pakistan, without naming it, is nurturing and flirting with terrorism, which has consequences not only for Pakistan itself but also for the region. The participating countries, Jaitley added, recognised that terrorism was the biggest threat to peace and stability and the Amritsar Declaration (see below) adopted towards the end of the summit expressed concern over violence perpetrated by terrorist groups, such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad. If there were fears that India - Pakistan tensions would hijack the conference agenda, it was not to be. In the end, Aziz's engagements did not go beyond the customary handshake and photo-op with Modi. Indian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup maintained that there was no pull-aside or bilateral meeting between Aziz and Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval either. An excerpt from the Amritsar Declaration: "We remain concerned by the gravity of the security situation in Afghanistan in particular and the region and the high level of violence caused by the Taliban, terrorist groups including ISIL / DAISHand its affiliates, the Haqqani Network, Al Qaida, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, East Turkistan Islamic Movement, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, TTP, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, Jundullah and other foreign terrorist fighters. Acknowledging the support that terrorism derives in our region, we demand an immediate end to all forms of terrorism, as well as all support to it, including financing of terrorism. We recognize that terrorism is the biggest threat to peace, stability and cooperation in our region. We encourage the international community to continue to assist the Government of Afghanistan. We strongly call for concerted regional and international cooperation to ensure elimination of terrorism, in all its forms and manifestations, including dismantling of terrorist sanctuaries and safe havens in the Heart of Asia region, as well as disrupting all financial, tactical and logistical support for terrorism." (WION)

Heart of Asia: Modi, Ghani launch double-barrelled attack on Pakistan

Here's the full text of the Amritsar declaration adopted at the 6th Heart of Asia ministerial conference

Amritsar Declaration: Complete text

In the first address after his appointment, Pakistan army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa today raked up the Kashmir issue, saying &quot;the issue will have to be resolved in line with the United Nations resolutions keeping in view the aspirations of the Kashmiri people in order to achieve lasting regional peace.&quot;&nbsp;

The newly-appointed army chief was briefed on the security situation along the border &quot;in view of the recent violations and escalation by Indian troops and Pakistan&#39;s own response&quot;, the army&#39;s media wing Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement.&nbsp;

Bajwa asked the soldiers to respond with &quot;full force&quot; to any ceasefire violations along the Line of Control.

During a visit to the 10 Corps Rawalpindi he said, &quot;Each violation of any kind must be responded to with full force in the most effective manner.&quot; He urged troops to keep the highest level of vigil at all times.&nbsp;

His statement comes at a time when the relations between Pakistan and India are highly strained, following India&#39;s surgical strikes on terror launchpads in the Pakistan-administered Kashmir.&nbsp;

On Thursday, Indian external affairs ministry had ruled out the possibility of holding bilateral talks with Pakistan on the sidelines of the Heart of Asia conference in Amritsar.&nbsp;

India deplored &quot;the atmosphere of continued terror&quot; and said it will &quot;never accept cross-border terrorism as the new normal ties&quot; between the two South Asian neighbours.&nbsp;

(WION with inputs from agencies)&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

Pakistan raised the Kashmir issue once again, saying it must be resolved in line with UN resolutions, after India ruled out bilateral talks

In the first address after his appointment, Pakistan army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa today raked up the Kashmir issue, saying "the issue will have to be resolved in line with the United Nations resolutions keeping in view the aspirations of the Kashmiri people in order to achieve lasting regional peace." The newly-appointed army chief was briefed on the security situation along the border "in view of the recent violations and escalation by Indian troops and Pakistan's own response", the army's media wing Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement. Bajwa asked the soldiers to respond with "full force" to any ceasefire violations along the Line of Control. During a visit to the 10 Corps Rawalpindi he said, "Each violation of any kind must be responded to with full force in the most effective manner." He urged troops to keep the highest level of vigil at all times. His statement comes at a time when the relations between Pakistan and India are highly strained, following India's surgical strikes on terror launchpads in the Pakistan-administered Kashmir. On Thursday, Indian external affairs ministry had ruled out the possibility of holding bilateral talks with Pakistan on the sidelines of the Heart of Asia conference in Amritsar. India deplored "the atmosphere of continued terror" and said it will "never accept cross-border terrorism as the new normal ties" between the two South Asian neighbours. (WION with inputs from agencies)

Newly-appointed Pakistan army chief rakes up Kashmir issue, asks troops to keep high vigil

Two days ahead of the Heart of Asia conference in the Indian city of Amritsar, external affairs ministry clarified that there would be no bilateral talks with Pakistan on the sidelines of the meeting.&nbsp;

India emphasised that it would not accept the atmosphere of &quot;continued terror&quot; as the &quot;new normal&quot; in the bilateral relationship.

External affairs ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said, &quot;We have not received any request from Pakistan for a bilateral meeting.&quot;

He added that the government is awaiting detailed information on the specifics of the Nagrota terror attack, in which 7 Indian armymen were killed, before it decides on the next steps.&nbsp;

&quot;I do wish to emphasise that the government takes this incident very seriously and will do what it feels is required for our national security,&quot; he asserted.

Pakistan will be represented by Sartaj Aziz, foreign affairs advisor to Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif at the conference on December 3 and 4.&nbsp;

Tensions between the two South Asian neighbours heightened after India&#39;s surgical strikes against militants on Pakistan-administered Kashmir.&nbsp;

Replying to a question on Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif&#39;s telephonic call with US President-elect Trump, Swarup said the Indian government is looking forward to the US addressing Pakistan&#39;s &quot;most outstanding of outstanding problems - terrorism&quot;.&nbsp;

&quot;We have seen the reports of the conversation (between Trump and Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif) that were one-sided and claimed the President-elect promised to help Pakistan with all outstanding issues,&quot; Swarup said.&nbsp;

Pakistan today claimed that Trump&#39;s &quot;willingness to play any role&quot; in resolving its &quot;outstanding issues&quot; was a reference to the Kashmir issue.

(WION with inputs from PTI) 
&nbsp;

New Delhi emphasised that bilateral ties cannot improve amid continued attacks along the Line of Control

Two days ahead of the Heart of Asia conference in the Indian city of Amritsar, external affairs ministry clarified that there would be no bilateral talks with Pakistan on the sidelines of the meeting. India emphasised that it would not accept the atmosphere of "continued terror" as the "new normal" in the bilateral relationship. External affairs ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said, "We have not received any request from Pakistan for a bilateral meeting." He added that the government is awaiting detailed information on the specifics of the Nagrota terror attack, in which 7 Indian armymen were killed, before it decides on the next steps. "I do wish to emphasise that the government takes this incident very seriously and will do what it feels is required for our national security," he asserted. Pakistan will be represented by Sartaj Aziz, foreign affairs advisor to Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif at the conference on December 3 and 4. Tensions between the two South Asian neighbours heightened after India's surgical strikes against militants on Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Replying to a question on Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's telephonic call with US President-elect Trump, Swarup said the Indian government is looking forward to the US addressing Pakistan's "most outstanding of outstanding problems - terrorism". "We have seen the reports of the conversation (between Trump and Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif) that were one-sided and claimed the President-elect promised to help Pakistan with all outstanding issues," Swarup said. Pakistan today claimed that Trump's "willingness to play any role" in resolving its "outstanding issues" was a reference to the Kashmir issue. (WION with inputs from PTI)

India: No talks with Pakistan in atmosphere of 'continued terror'