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Article by Afghanistan's Deputy Foreign Minister, Hekmat Khalil Karzai, here on The Hindu,
Friendship between the people of India and Afghanistan dates back to centuries. It has only grown deeper in the modern era. Kabuliwala — a timeless work of Rabindranath Tagore and a classic reading in Indian schools — sums up the ever growing relationship between Indians and Afghans. Kabuliwala correctly characterises the friendship, loyalty, and generosity of the Afghan people, who think highly of India’s rich culture and civilisation, to which Afghans have both contributed and learned from at the same time.
...
With such a background of deep-seated ties, India and Afghanistan are natural strategic allies. While India’s democratic institutions have long been established and matured, those of Afghanistan are nascent and in need of further institutionalisation. To help create an enabling environment for the Afghan people to realise their vision of a functioning democracy that contributes to regional peace and prosperity, Afghanistan and India signed a Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) in October 2011.
...
In the weeks and months ahead, we look forward to building on the timely security assistance from India, fully operationalising the implementing mechanisms of the SPA to achieve our shared objectives in the following areas: trade and economic cooperation; capacity development and education; social, cultural, civil society; and people-to-people relations. Further progress in each of these areas will bolster the overall human security situation in Afghanistan, increasingly beset by an economic recession that unfortunately benefits terrorist networks, which often exploit poverty and joblessness among youth to recruit rental fighters.
...
At the same time, to ensure the regional leadership and ownership of addressing the challenges and threats that commonly confront us, it is imperative that our other neighbours, including China, Iran, and Russia, collaborate with India to ensure regional stability through securing Afghanistan. As these countries are aware, terrorist networks, including the Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, have converged in our vulnerable environment, from where they have every intention to strike targets throughout our neighbourhood.
Friendship between the people of India and Afghanistan dates back to centuries. It has only grown deeper in the modern era. Kabuliwala — a timeless work of Rabindranath Tagore and a classic reading in Indian schools — sums up the ever growing relationship between Indians and Afghans. Kabuliwala correctly characterises the friendship, loyalty, and generosity of the Afghan people, who think highly of India’s rich culture and civilisation, to which Afghans have both contributed and learned from at the same time.
...
With such a background of deep-seated ties, India and Afghanistan are natural strategic allies. While India’s democratic institutions have long been established and matured, those of Afghanistan are nascent and in need of further institutionalisation. To help create an enabling environment for the Afghan people to realise their vision of a functioning democracy that contributes to regional peace and prosperity, Afghanistan and India signed a Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) in October 2011.
...
In the weeks and months ahead, we look forward to building on the timely security assistance from India, fully operationalising the implementing mechanisms of the SPA to achieve our shared objectives in the following areas: trade and economic cooperation; capacity development and education; social, cultural, civil society; and people-to-people relations. Further progress in each of these areas will bolster the overall human security situation in Afghanistan, increasingly beset by an economic recession that unfortunately benefits terrorist networks, which often exploit poverty and joblessness among youth to recruit rental fighters.
...
At the same time, to ensure the regional leadership and ownership of addressing the challenges and threats that commonly confront us, it is imperative that our other neighbours, including China, Iran, and Russia, collaborate with India to ensure regional stability through securing Afghanistan. As these countries are aware, terrorist networks, including the Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, have converged in our vulnerable environment, from where they have every intention to strike targets throughout our neighbourhood.
