Ghani, Modi lash out at Pakistan on terrorism at Heart of Asia moot in Amritsar

[Devil Soul]

Ghani, Modi lash out at Pakistan on terrorism at Heart of Asia moot in Amritsar
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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (R) and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani (L) pose for the group picture at the 6th Heart of Asia (HoA) Ministerial Conference. ─ AFP
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi joined hands to lash out at Pakistan on terrorism as the subject took centre stage at the inauguration of the sixth Heart of Asia ministerial conference on Sunday in Amritsar.

The theme of the conference is 'enhanced cooperation for countering security threats and promoting connectivity in the Heart of Asia region', and speculation was rife that India and Afghanistan would seek to pin Pakistan on terrorism.

Ashraf Ghani opened the conference by snubbing a $500 million pledge from Pakistan for development projects in Afghanistan, saying Afghanistan 'needs aid to fight terrorism', Times of India reported.

"We need to identify cross-border terrorism and a fund to combat terrorism. Pakistan has pledged $500m for Afghanistan's development. This amount can be spent to contain extremism," Ghani said, directly addressing Foreign Affairs Adviser Sartaj Aziz who was in attendance at the two-day moot.

"Afghanistan suffered the highest number of casualties last year. This is unacceptable... Some still provide sanctuary for terrorists. As a Taliban figure said recently, if they had no sanctuary in Pakistan, they wouldn't last a month," the Afghan president thundered.

Attendees pose for a photograph at the conference. ─ AFP


"I don't want a blame game, I want clarifications on what is being done to prevent the export of terror," Ghani said.

He emphasised the need to "confront the fifth spectrum in the room, which is terrorism" and called on Pakistan to "verify cross-border activities".

The Afghan president appreciated India's support to Afghanistan, which he said comes "with no strings attached".

"The relationship is based on shared values and beliefs," Ghani said.

Must counter terrorists: Modi
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his opening remarks termed terrorism "the biggest threat to Afghanistan's peace and the region," Indian media reported.

Although the Indian premier did not refer explicitly to Pakistan in his speech at the Heart of Asia conference, Modi has vowed to step up a drive to isolate Pakistan diplomatically following the Uri army base attack in September, which it blames on Pakistan ─ an allegation Islamabad denies.

Hours after the Uri attack occurred, Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh termed Pakistan a 'terrorist state' and accused Pakistan of involvement.

Addressing the moot, Modi said, "We must counter terrorists and their masters. We must demonstrate strong collective will to defeat terror network that cause bloodshed and spread fear."

"Silence and inaction on terror in Afghanistan and the region will only embolden terrorists and masters and those fund them," he said.

Modi said India is committed to 'durable peace' in Afghanistan, and announced plans to connect India and Afghanistan via an air link, as well as discussed the possibility of trilateral cooperation over Iran's Chahbahar port.

Read more: India, Afghanistan plan air cargo link over Pakistan

"India-Afghanistan-Iran cooperation on the Chahbahar port will help Afghanistan to connect its economy to the rest of the world," Modi said.

Aziz slams Ghani's 'baseless accusations', says Pakistan wants peace with India
Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz slammed Ghani's 'baseless accusations' on Pakistan and called for evolving a joint and purposeful strategy for lasting peace in Afghanistan, Radio Pakistan reported.

"Peaceful resolution to all the longstanding issues is the only way forward for regional cooperation and connectivity,"

"Pakistan is ready to extend every kind of cooperation for lasting peace in Afghanistan," he said, adding that Afghanistan should avoid levelling false and baseless accusations at Pakistan.

Sartaj Aziz and Indian PM Narendra Modi shake hands upon the former's arrival in India. ─ Photo courtesy Radio Pakistan


Speaking to journalists in Amritsar earlier, Aziz said Pakistan prioritises peace and is ready for talks with India if New Delhi desires the same, the Press Information Department said in a statement.

"Terrorism is one of the issues to be discussed under the composite dialogue with India," Aziz said, adding that both countries should sit together and discuss issues instead of engaging in heated debate in the media.

"If we do not have structured dialogue, then the dialogue through media increases hostility and negative perceptions," he said.

"Pakistan is committed to peace and security of the region and to promote multilateral peace for this purpose," he said, adding that this was one of the reasons he attended the conference in India.

Aziz arrives in Amritsar
The two-day moot kicked off amidst a media frenzy as a handshake between Foreign Affairs Adviser Sartaj Aziz and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi sparked speculation regarding the possibility of a Pak-India meeting on the sidelines of the event.

Sartaj Aziz, Pak High Commissioner Abdul Basit attend dinner at Heart of Asia in Amritsar Saturday. ─ Photo courtesy Indian Express


Reports speculated whether Sartaj Aziz’s early arrival in India on Saturday presaged a ‘chance’ bilateral meeting with Indian PM Modi, who is hosting the multilateral conference on Afghanistan.

Indian Ministry of External Affairs Spokesman Vikas Swarup has, however, rubbished the rumours citing "a climate of continued terrorism" as the reason bilateral talks may not take place. "India will never accept continued terrorism as the new normal of the bilateral relationship,"

Prior to the meet, Modi and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani held bilateral talks focusing on a range of issues, including trade, investment, infrastructural development and increasing defence and security ties.

Sartaj Aziz also met Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Ashraf Ghani separately on the sidelines of the ministerial conference.

Heart of Asia process
The initiative was launched in 2011 in Istanbul, Turkey for encouraging economic and security cooperation between Afghanistan and its neighbours for dealing with the common problems of terrorism, extremism and poverty

A senior officials’ meeting of the Heart of Asia process, themed 'Addressing Challenges, Achieving Prosperity', was held on Saturday and their deliberations were to feed into the ministerial session today.

Pakistan, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and the United Arab Emirates are part of the Heart of Asia initiative.

Six key areas in which the 14 countries have been pursuing confidence-building measures since the 2013 Almaty meeting are disaster management, counter-terrorism, counter-narcotics, trade and investment, regional infrastructure, and education.

The process is supported by 17 other, predominantly Western, countries, and 12 international organisations which are also sending senior representatives.


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[Cash GK]

They should send ch nasair there.. this aziz is old stupid like nawaz shirf

 

[Qutb-ud-din Aybak]

how could modi statement that "we must counter terrorists" be lashing Pakistan when the conference is on afghanistan and the world don't call Pakistan terrorist.

By the way the three countries about which we don't care about are india,afghanistan and israel.

 

[lastofthepatriots]

Ghani needs to make his income somehow.

 

[Path-Finder]

ہن چنگے رہے ہو
master noora has no issues with destroying national pride! he has none for himself but will make sure that the state has none left either!

 

[CriticalThought]

As expected. And this is the utter failure of our leadership. Let us analyse this in different words. Someone invites a person to their house, along with a host of other people. Once everyone is seated, a guy stands up for a speech and insults the invited guy's parents. The next in line is the host, who continues to insult hypothetical people whose description fits the invited guy's parents. Any normal person would have gotten up and left at the first insult levelled. That is the way of polite people. If someone is more of a hothead, he would have outright slapped the offender on the face. Our leaders have systematically denigrated us on international forums. I remember Musharraf speaking all around the world, explicitly proclaiming there are terrorists in Pakistan. Zardari continued the act. I especially remember one such address where he effectively said we need money because we need to fight the terrorists that are in Pakistan. I have yet to see a leader from ANY country in the world, and by leader I mean the president or the prime minister, who stands in such international forums as the U.N., and tells the whole world his country has terrorists. My blood boils when I think of these things, which is why I usually just keep quiet and avoid discussing this topic.

 

[PAKISTANFOREVER]

As expected. And this is the utter failure of our leadership. Let us analyse this in different words. Someone invites a person to their house, along with a host of other people. Once everyone is seated, a guy stands up for a speech and insults the invited guy's parents. The next in line is the host, who continues to insult hypothetical people whose description fits the invited guy's parents. Any normal person would have gotten up and left at the first insult levelled. That is the way of polite people. If someone is more of a hothead, he would have outright slapped the offender on the face. Our leaders have systematically denigrated us on international forums. I remember Musharraf speaking all around the world, explicitly proclaiming there are terrorists in Pakistan. Zardari continued the act. I especially remember one such address where he effectively said we need money because we need to fight the terrorists that are in Pakistan. I have yet to see a leader from ANY country in the world, and by leader I mean the president or the prime minister, who stands in such international forums as the U.N., and tells the whole world his country has terrorists. My blood boils when I think of these things, which is why I usually just keep quiet and avoid discussing this topic.

Pakistan is a nation of lions led by sheep. We are just 1 lion leader away from greatness.

 

[Pakistani E]

As expected. And this is the utter failure of our leadership. Let us analyse this in different words. Someone invites a person to their house, along with a host of other people. Once everyone is seated, a guy stands up for a speech and insults the invited guy's parents. The next in line is the host, who continues to insult hypothetical people whose description fits the invited guy's parents. Any normal person would have gotten up and left at the first insult levelled. That is the way of polite people. If someone is more of a hothead, he would have outright slapped the offender on the face. Our leaders have systematically denigrated us on international forums. I remember Musharraf speaking all around the world, explicitly proclaiming there are terrorists in Pakistan. Zardari continued the act. I especially remember one such address where he effectively said we need money because we need to fight the terrorists that are in Pakistan. I have yet to see a leader from ANY country in the world, and by leader I mean the president or the prime minister, who stands in such international forums as the U.N., and tells the whole world his country has terrorists. My blood boils when I think of these things, which is why I usually just keep quiet and avoid discussing this topic.

What more can we expect from someone like NS? He has accepted guys in his party who during Mushys rule used to insult him on national tv calling him the son of a lohar. Do you think NS has even a shred of self respect and decency as long he's making his dollars?

 

[PAKISTANFOREVER]

After trying their hardest to isolate Pakistan from the rest of the world, the only 2 nations that have been convinced by India are the worthless, inferior and meaningless nations of bangladesh and Afghanistan.......lol.....lol

 

[Hakikat ve Hikmet]

After trying their hardest to isolate Pakistan from the rest of the world, the only 2 nations that have been convinced by India are the worthless, inferior and meaningless nations of bangladesh and Afghanistan.......lol.....lol

It says all. Ofkeyle Kalkan Zararla Oturur - whoever stands up with anger sits down with loss....
IMHO, you are too nice to these NA thugs. Anyway, the nature is taking its corrective actions. To deal with the thugs at your borders one exception may be taken - let the General Staff take care of them...

 

[Sully3]

After trying their hardest to isolate Pakistan from the rest of the world, the only 2 nations that have been convinced by India are the worthless, inferior and meaningless nations of bangladesh and Afghanistan.......lol.....lol

the great isolation go the genuis Modi Afghanistan and Bangladesh.

 

[PAKISTANFOREVER]

the great isolation go the genuis Modi Afghanistan and Bangladesh.

All hail the mighty superpowers Afghanistan & bangladesh.......lol........lol

It says all. Ofkeyle Kalkan Zararla Oturur - whoever stands up with anger sits down with loss....
IMHO, you are too nice to these NA thugs. Anyway, the nature is taking its corrective actions. To deal with the thugs at your borders one exception may be taken - let the General Staff take care of them...

We will do. The gloves are coming off.

 

[Hakikat ve Hikmet]

All hail the mighty superpowers Afghanistan & bangladesh.......lol........lol




We will do. The gloves are coming off.

Here, Afganistan and BD mean their proxy leaders on the Indian payroll..

 

[Menace2Society]

Pakistan lost her children in APS massacre and countless others.

Terrorism didn't exist in Pakistan pre 9/11, it did in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan is breeding ground for terrorists to attacking Afghans, Pakistanis and Syrians. They are terrorist breeding ground.

I don't care what narrative Modi and Ghani are trying to push but these child killers will not win this war.

 

[Chauvinist]

Buhahah Look whose talking...
The one who has been the Top terrorist and the other who is governing with the crutches of US forces....

Both are the biggest sponsors of terrorism.... Let them Whimper.. Who cares !!!!