Top diplomats offer support for Afghanistan at UN meeting Zarif: Iran to keep helping Afghanistan establish peace
Top diplomats from Iran, Russia, the United States and European Union united in support for Afghan president’s efforts to stabilize his war-battered nation, saying Wednesday progress has been made but more is needed, especially in areas of security, anti-corruption fight and the push to launch peace talks with the Taliban.
The statements came at a Un-backed conference in Geneva, which aims to take stock of the Afghan government’s use of billions of dollars in foreign aid for education, health care, humanitarian support and needs since 2016, AP reported.
Afghani President Ashraf Ghani, who faces an increasingly violent Taliban insurgency in recent months — the Taliban now hold sway in nearly half of the country — presented his government’s efforts in areas such as security, justice, women’s rights and anti-corruption.
“We have a plan for reform, and we need your support to help implement it,” he told the conference. “Does this mean that we have eliminated corruption? Absolutely not. We want it to happen faster, but meaningful change cannot be rushed.”
Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, Tehran is ready to continue to help the people and government of Afghanistan in their quest for peace and cooperate with all with the same objective.
He also expressed concern about the drug trade across the region’s borders and said the “presence of foreign military forces has never brought stability in our region and has historically provided a recruiting ground for extremists.
“All of us need to facilitate the interafghan dialogue.
“There is national, regional and global consensus that there is no military solution in Afghanistan, and the time has come to for national reconciliation and inclusive political solution in Afghanistan, owned and led by the Afghan government and people.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said his country hoped for an “end of this fratricidal war” in Afghanistan and cited concerns about the stepped-up terrorist attacks by the Daesh affiliate in Afghanistan.
Federica Mogherini, the EU foreign affairs chief, said the bloc was “ready to do our part as a neutral player.” She welcomed Ghani’s offer of peace talks with the Taliban.
“It is a unique opportunity to break the stalemate and to move the country forward,” she said. “We believe it is time for concrete talks about peace to begin.”
US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale urged all to “seize this opportunity: to move toward peace.
“Today we reaffirm our commitment to the Afghan people,” he said, noting that Ghani’s initiative was among “encouraging signs.”
Afghanistan is among the most corrupt countries in the world and last year Transparency International ranked it 177th out of 180 countries ranked. The corruption monitoring agency said the Afghan government’s anti-corruption efforts had been insufficient. The country’s overall score was a dismal 15 out of 100.
The United States has spent nearly $1 trillion on the war in Afghanistan, nearly $800 billion of which was spent on America’s own troops there and also the Afghan National Security Forces. The US has committed roughly $4 billion annually for the next several years toward financing those forces.
On Tuesday, at the start of the conference, the European Union announced 474 million euros ($535 million) in financial aid for Afghanistan.
The European Commission said the new funding would go toward reforms in the public sector, health, justice and migration and displacement issues, with 311 million euros aimed for supporting Afghanistan’s “reform agenda.”