Mr. Chairman,
2. The Government of Afghanistan have made significant achievements since the Bonn Conference. More important than the quantitative targets are the achievements in terms of the experience gained and the hope and confidence generated. This is not, of course, to say that we can afford to be sanguine. Far from it: the resurgence of the Taliban, the security situation in the Southern and Eastern Provinces, the growing security difficulties in the North and the Western Provinces are factors far too corrosive not to be frontally acknowledged and addressed. We have at the same time to acknowledge that there are issues which have arisen in many troop contributing countries regarding continuing military deployments and even more fundamental questions have been posed about the sustainability of progress in Afghanistan.
3. Peace and progress in Afghanistan is as much predicated on regional cooperation as on internal action. Afghanistan's membership of SAARC and other groups such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation will renew and reinforce Afghanistan's linkages with the countries of the region. Historically, Afghanistan has prospered when it has served as the trade and transportation hub between Central and South Asia. If we were to implement the projects and activities on the anvil, which allow greater commercial and economic exchanges by removing barriers to investment, trade and transit, this would transform not just Afghanistan but otherregional countries as well. Following the Kabul Declaration of December 2005, the Second Regional Economic Cooperation Conference was hosted jointly by India and Afghanistan in New Delhi in November 2006. Many of the decisions taken in that Conference, in which most of the countries present here had participated, have yet to be implemented fully. We hope that a commitment to pursue those proposals and impart fresh energy to their implementation remains feasible. Regional cooperation would also help in other trans-border issues such as drug-trafficking, developing commercial and economic opportunities and, above all, in ending cross-border infiltration and terrorism.
4. India has remained at the forefront of the international effort to assist the Government and people of Afghanistan in building a stable, democratic and pluralistic society. Our pledged bilateral commitment to the rebuilding and reconstruction of Afghanistan is now US $ 1.2 billion. Government of India also announced in January 2009, a 250,000 metric tonnes of wheat aid to Afghanistan to help tide over its current food crisis. We hope the Government of Afghanistan would be able to soon work out transportation arrangements expeditiously so that the supply of wheat could take place. The easiest mode of transport would be by means of transit through Pakistan but alternative routes also exist and are being looked at.
5. Lastly, I would like to touch upon the problem of narcotics and drug trafficking. The growing drug economy has been fuelling terrorism in Afghanistan. Though the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Annual Survey (August 2008) shows decrease in poppy cultivation in Afghanistan in 2008, the poppy cultivation continued unabated in the insurgency and terrorism-prone southern and south-eastern provinces. It is a matter of concern for all of us.
6. India has always supported all the UN Resolutions on counter narcotics. However, any effort or policy towards eliminating this problem should be a comprehensive one and should focus on cutting its financial networks and drug routes. Drug cultivation areas in Afghanistan are very rural and remote areas. It involves poor rural population which does not have any alternative source of livelihood. Any long term and sustainable solution lies in public awareness along with an offer of an alternative system of livelihood.
7. In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, I must reiterate our expectation that notwithstanding the myriad challenges facing Afghanistan, its government and people will manage to overcome them. The message of our meeting today is an affirmation that the international community stands with them in this endeavour. India too will continue its engagement, in accord with the Afghan national priorities.
I thank you, Mr. Chairman.
