Rabbani to neighbours: Help us achieve reconciliation

Monitoring Desk

KABUL: The Afghan government is mandated by citizens to end decades of conflict and violence in the country, Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani said on Wednesday.

“We wish to achieve this goal through a credible political settlement with those armed groups that renounce violence and cut ties with transnational terrorist networks,” he said.

Addressing the second meeting of the Kabul Process, the minister said the forces would continue battling to defeat those choosing violence and bloodshed over reconciliation and peace.

“Genuine success in our quest for peace rests on an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process, which must be strongly supported by our immediate neighbors, our wider region, as well as our international partners,” he said.

In his opening remarks, Rabbani said the delegates would focus on the Afghan government’s vision for peace, regional and international support and the need for adopting a common counter-terrorism and counter-narcotics strategy.

Afghanistan was a multiethnic country, where an all-inclusive national settlement required the highest level of political integrity and altruistic leadership to help all communities see themselves as an integral part of the system.

He stressed the need for a system that provided equal socio-economic and political opportunities to all citizens. While the root-causes of conflict were external, any attempt to impose a system that preferred one community and ignored the rest would be detrimental to social cohesion, he warned.

In the lead-up to the meeting, the government and High Peace Council (HPC) engaged in nationwide consultations with political figures, civil society, the clergy, women and youth to bolster public support for a legitimate peace process.

“We renew our call on our neighbors and international partners to further strengthen our bilateral and multilateral counter-terrorism and counter-narcotics cooperation,” the minister added.

He called the conference a significant opportunity for all to reinvigorate international consensus on joint efforts to defeat terrorist and criminal networks with no distinction.

“This can be achieved best when we adopt a common strategy to address these critical security challenges that confront our nations,” Rabbani concluded.