Swaraj: Committed towards Afghan economic recovery
SAMARKAND(UZBEKISTAN): India on Sunday said it was committed to the economic reconstruction of Afghanistan and to promote an inclusive “Afghan-led, Afghanowned and Afghan-controlled” peace and reconciliation process in the war-torn country.
India’s position was enunciated by external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj at the historic India-central Asia Dialogue, with the participation of Afghanistan, which focussed on a plethora of regional issues. Swaraj was accompanied by foreign ministers of Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan took part in the meeting.
“I would like to specifically point out that our region is facing serious challenges posed by terrorism
. India, Central Asia and Afghanistan are societies which are tolerant and plural. The ideology of hate which the terrorists would like to spread has no place in our societies,” Swaraj said while addressing the first session of the dialogue. “We also need to ask that who these terrorists are, who funds them, how do they find sustenance, who protects and sponsors them,” she said.
“No business development, no investment can take place in a country suffering from terrorism. To promote business development in our region, we agreed to fight the scourge of terrorism together,” Swaraj said, adding that terrorism seriously erodes all avenues of development which a country can have.
Meanwhile, India and five Central Asian countries, along with Afghanistan, condemned terrorism in all forms and manifestations, and agreed to cooperate in countering the threat.
This was part of a joint statement issued at the end of the first ever meeting of the Indiacentral Asia Dialogue which also saw the participation of Afghanistan at the ministerial level in Samarkand.
“All sides condemned terrorism... and agreed to cooperate in countering terrorism which posed a threat to the people and economies of the world,” the statement said. NEWDELHI:THIS week, India got its National Clean Air Plan, the NCAP. Two things struck me. The first, in Section 7.1.16, it speaks of international co-operation, both technology transfer and information. This is crucial -we are hit as a region. Think of the impact of air pollution not only Indian children, but also those in Nepal.
While transboundary co-operation is useful, the case of India shows that civil society engagement is key. India’s doctors, for example, have been able to bring to the public the impact of air pollution. For these reasons, the global engagement must also formally be at the level of civil society, entrepreneurs, medical professionals and so on.
Second, the plan has identified various government missions which will reorient themselves to keep air pollution in their ambit, and use their funds for NCAP