Diplomatist Magazine DIplomatist September 2018 | Page 76

A Perfect Host
India Organised Heart of Asia
Conference on Afghanistan 2016
T
he Heart of Asia Conference on Afghanistan
2016, attended by representatives from
40 countries, was held in the Indian city
of Amritsar, with an aim to encourage security,
political and economic co-operation between
Afghanistan and its neighbors.
Terrorism remained at the top of the agenda
in the two days conference, with leaders from all
countries calling for its immediate elimination and
for efforts to help the war-ravaged country in its
political and economic transition.
“We strongly call for concerted regional and
international cooperation to ensure elimination
of terrorism, including dismantling of terrorist
safe havens in the Heart of Asia region, as well
as disrupting all fi nancial and logistical support
for terrorism,” said Indian Finance Minister Arun
Jaitley, who chaired the meeting in the absence of
ailing External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.
The event was inaugurated jointly by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi and Afghan President
Ashraf Ghani. The theme of the event was
‘Addressing Challenges, Achieving Prosperity’.
In addition to India and Afghanistan, the
conference was attended by countries including
China, Pakistan, Russia, Iran, and Turkey.
The participating nations in the conference
deliberated mainly on countering terrorism to create
76 • Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Diplomatist • Vol 6 • Issue 9 • September 2018, Noida
stability in Afghanistan, improving Afghanistan
connectivity to strengthen economic activities
which is essential for the country’s progress.
After the end of the conference, the Amritsar
Declaration was adopted which called for ending
terrorism to ensure regional prosperity. The main
features of the declaration are as under:
Terrorism: It is the biggest threat to peace and
security. There is a necessity to put an end to all
forms of terrorism including all fi nancial support
and safe havens that provide sanctuary to it. The
Declaration also expressed concern over violence
caused in Afghanistan and the region by terrorists
groups like Al Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Toiba, Daesh
(ISIS), and Jaish-e-Mohammad. It also mentioned
the Haqqani Network.
Drug Menace: There is an urgency to respond
to the nexus between drug menace and its fi nancial
support for terrorist entities in Afghanistan.
CCIT: Early finalisation of the draft of
Comprehensive Convention on International
Terrorism (CCIT). Early meeting of experts
must be held to discuss the draft of Regional
Counter Terrorism Framework Strategy, which
was recently prepared by Afghanistan for its early
fi nalisation.
Connectivity: Reiterated strong support from
Heart of Asia countries for use of Afghanistan’s