Full Transcript of H.E. President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani’s Speech

Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process Ministerial Conference - Islamabad, Pakistan, December 9th, 2015

Let me, at the beginning, thank the governments of Turkey, Kazakhstan, and China, the previous chairs and conveners of this conference, and to thank the government of Pakistan for their excellent arrangements and the hospitality offered to us. Let me also thank the people of Pakistan for having hosted millions of Afghan refugees over decades. Our bonds are deep, people-to-people sets of relationships. Unfortunately, recent events in Pakistan have forced us to host close to 350,000 to 500,000 of Pakistani refugees on our soil. The refugee issue is a common issue, like other issues that confront us. I had began with Allama Iqbal’s poem, so instead of reading it in English, allow me to read it in Dari. ***Reads poem*** 

Let me shift to the drivers of conflict. What is driving the conflict? Is it an insurgency or are we dealing with a much larger conflict, because to formulate a plan of action along the lines H.E the Prime Minister has suggested for regional cooperation, it is important that we name the problems. The first driver of the conflict is regional and international terrorism, Al Qaeda, Daesh and terrorists from China, Russia, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, the Middle East are all, unfortunately, present on our soil. The courageous decision of Prime Minister Sharif to launch the military actions in Pakistan has created unintended consequences, bringing about the displacement of a significant number of these groups onto our soil.

What I bring to your attention is there is no historical precedent for solving this problem because the quarrel of these people is not with the government and people of Afghanistan. We are fighting on behalf of all of you but we are the ones, who are daily suffering some of the worst atrocities, including the butchering of our young children and our elderly, totally innocent, totally unharmful, but theater has become a part of this. The second issue is, unfortunately, these terrorist groups are not going to be a short-term challenge. I want to pay tribute to all the victims of terrorism, particularly in the recent events, Istanbul, Paris, Sharm-el-Sheik—the Russian plane—Mali, San Bernardino, it goes on. We do have a problem, it’s a global and a regional problem and it requires us to focus on it systematically and coherently. - Read More at the  Mohammad Ashraf Ghani’s Speech

Full Transcript of H.E. President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani’s Speech 
متن کامل سخنرانی محمد اشرف غنی رئیس جمهوری اسلامی افغانستان در پنجمین کنفرانس پروسه استانبول - قلب آسیا 

جمهور رئیس غني : طالبان افغاني پدیده نه ده