Afghanistan welcomes India's decision on demonetisation

Underlining that black money is one of the main sources of funding terror activities, Afghanistan today welcomed India's decision to demonetise high-denomination currency, saying the move will benefit the region.

Afghan Ambassador to India Shaida Abdali said the move will help curb economic terrorism by foiling the usage of counterfeit currency for terror activities.

"Black money is one of the main sources of funding for activities related to terrorism. And therefore it will help in fighting against it. Terrorism certainly has no boundary and so India's move will help the region too," he said on the sidelines of the 'Heart of Asia' seminar here.
 

The two-day seminar, organised by International Council for World Affairs (ICWA), is being held in the run-up to the 'Heart of Asia' conference in Amritsar in December, which India will co-chair with Afghanistan.

Earlier, speaking at the event, Abdali appreciated the role of 'Heart of Asia' in the stabilisation of Afghanistan and the region while pitching for for bold, result-oriented regional leadership.

"The National Unity Government of Afghanistan took unprecedented steps to address the question of terrorism and improve our relations with Pakistan.

"We have exchanged with Pakistan several delegations, to secure Pakistan's cooperation in ending war and violence," he said. We appreciated the initial gestures of goodwill of the Pakistani government...But we are yet to see tangible steps to be taken towards the peace process," he said.

He said zero-sum postures must be discarded and win-win strategies adopted to secure Afghanistan against the same threats that undermine the security of every nation in South Asia and Central Asia, and the countries that neighbour these resourceful regions in Asia.

Abdali said a well-defined regional counter-terrorism strategy was a necessity and no longer an option for stabilisation.

The seminar is being attended by representative from several member and supporting countries of 'Heart of Asia'.

There are 13 member countries, which include Afghanistan, India, China, Iran, Pakistan, Russia, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia. Besides, there are 30 supporting countries which include the US, the UK and Germany.