Sunday March 19, 2017
Kabul (BNA) For tightening security and stability and anti-terrorism effort, national unity government is making effort to create a joint procedure in the region so that terrorist activities could be ended.
National Security Advisor to President Hanif Atmar on a three-day official visit to Russia met his Russian counterpart and Foreign Minister Segey Lavrov and discussed various issues. Hanif Atmar said Afghanistan highly appreciates Russia’s initiative towards regional consensus in Central Asia in order to promote partnership in various spheres. “Traditionally, Afghanistan carries out a multi-vector foreign policy and Russia is a major factor in our country’s foreign policy,” he said. “Russia and Afghanistan have important common interests and our partnership is playing a major role in achieving these common goals. Our cooperation plays an important role in countering terrorism and drug trafficking, in ensuring peace and national reconciliation in our country and in developing trade-and-economic relations.”
Meanwhile, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov while stressing on national reconciliation in Afghanistan said that his country planned to take additional steps towards national reconciliation program in Afghanistan.
“It is very important to continue conversation on issues of national reconciliation,” he said. “In the recent months, we have taken a number of initiative steps with participation of a number of countries that are the key foreign players.” The Russian official also said they had full determination towards further developing cooperation with Afghanistan in trade and economic, humanitarian areas and in assisting the strengthening of combat capability of Afghan security forces and army. Although a number of Afghan experts doubt political, economic and trade relations with Russian, but Afghanistan national unity government wants to have good relations with countries of the world and will never let any country use its soil against others.
Afghans believe that anti-terrorism effort is not only the responsibility of Afghanistan but it is also the responsibility of all the world in particular regional countries as terrorist activities are expanding in the region which has caused the world concern. Russia should also cooperate with Afghanistan in counter terrorism effort because terrorists want to expand their activities to Central Asia. It is worth mentioning that recent terrorist attack on Kabul has shown that terrorists respect neither religious values nor have mercy on children and doctors and make use of any kind of crimes to reach their goals. Afghanistan government should try to prevent all acts and activities which harm Afghans, concentrate on joint cooperation of the world and regional countries in this regard and urge regional countries to adopt honest measures in counter terrorism effort.
Afghanistan National Security Advisor to President Mohammad Hanif Atmar has praised Russian contacts with Taliban for reconciliation. Secretary to Russian national Security Council has said his country had contacted Taliban in order to join Afghan-led peace process. Previously Russia had been accused of contacting the Taliban group, which could harm relations of Afghanistan with Russia, but now we see that Russia is willing to work with Afghanistan so that peace and stability is tightened in the region. Afghanistan national security advisor’s visit to Russian has come amid statement of US President Donald Trump, asking most of world countries in particular Russia for creating a common strategy in counter terrorism effort and ending the phenomenon. Besides, Russian President Vladimir Putin has stressed on tightening peace and lasting stability in Afghanistan, saying that Russia was ready to provide any kind of cooperation with Afghanistan in maintenance peace and stability in the country.
Hamidullah Faizi
