40 countries devise plan to fight terror, boost investments
HEART OF ASIA MEET Meet aims at aiding war-ravaged Afghanistan in political, economic transition, improving connectivity
AMRITSAR: A regional plan to fight terrorism and measures to boost investments as well as connectivity to Afghanistan will be the likely outcomeof theHeartof Asiaministerial meeting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Afghanistani President Ashraf Ghani will inaugurate here on Sunday.
Amritsar, a stop on the old Grand Trunk (GT) Road that once seamlessly connected then Calcutta to Peshawar in Pakistan, is festooned with posters of Modi, Ghani and other leaders.
As many as 40 countries and groupings will participate in the meet aimed at helping warravaged Afghanistan in its political and economic transition. Finance minister Arun Jaitley will co-chair the meeting in the absence of external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj.
India and Afghanistan rooted for strong measures to counter terrorism – which both believe is aided by Pakistan – at a senior officials’ meeting held on Saturday. Senior officials of the 14 Heart of Asia countries SENIOR OFFICIAL and 17 supporting countries discussed the issue, among others. “The threat of terrorism, terror sanctuaries, funding, drug trafficking and increasing radicalisation figured in the discussions – along with plans for connectivity and means to promote the economic well-being of Afghanistan,” an official said.
The senior officials’ meeting was co-chaired by foreign secretary S Jaishankar and Afghanistan deputy foreign minister Hikmat Khaleel Karzai. The text for the ministerial conference on Sunday was finalised at the meet. “A substantial part of the Amritsar declaration will deal with terrorism,” the official said.
The meeting of senior foreign ministry officials lasted for around two hours.
Major connectivity initiatives, including the Chabahar port project, are also slated to be discussed at the event.
The Heart of Asia-Istanbul process was launched in 2011, and the participant countries include Pakistan, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Turkmenistan and the United Arab Emirates.
The platform was floated to encourage security, political and economic cooperation between Afghanistan and its neighbours. The countries supporting the initiative are Australia, Canada, Denmark, Egypt, France, Finland, Germany, Iraq, Italy, Japan, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Britain and the United States.
Amritsar, which is not very far from the Indo-Pakistan border, has been brought under heavy security cover in view of the conference.
The threat of terrorism, terror sanctuaries, funding, drug trafficking and increasing radicalisation figured in the discussions – along with plans for connectivity and means to promote the economic wellbeing of Afghanistan. ANSARI’S MOTHER,