Reaffirming its strong commitment to peace and stability of Afghanistan, India today said the war-ravaged country can emerge as a hub of trade and energy arteries and that it was the responsibility of all nations in the region to help it embark on the path of development.
Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh, addressing Senior Officials Meeting of the Heart of Asia Istanbul Process, said a collective approach was required to help Afghanistan deal with challenge of violence and instability.
"For our stable and prosperous region, a strong, peaceful, prosperous and democratic Afghanistan is an imperative. Such an Afghanistan will be a bridge of connectivity between East and West, and Central and South Asia," he said.
The Heart of Asia - Istanbul Process was established in 2011 to provide a platform to discuss regional issues, particularly encouraging security, political, and economic cooperation among Afghanistan and its neighbors.
"To achieve progress and prosperity together, we need to address challenges together. This is not only in Afghanistan's interest, but in the interest of the whole of the Heart of Asia region.
"It is our collective and individual responsibility to help and support Afghanistan in combating the challenges it faces to its stability and security," Singh said.
Pitching for developing trade routes to Afghanistan, he said connectivity in the region has to be the centrepiece of efforts to enhance trade, commerce and investment among countries in the region.
"It can help fully harness Afghanistan's trade and transit potential. It will also serve to tap Afghanistan's vast natural and human resources. Afghanistan can emerge as a hub of regional trade and energy arteries," said Singh.
He said Afghanistan, Iran and India are waiting to develop trilateral transit route through Chabahar in Iran and that New Delhi is also willing to avail of other regional and trans-regional connectivity initiatives such as the North - South Transport Corridor and the Ashgabat Agreement.
"Creating more employment opportunities is also important to wean (away) youth lured to narcotics, extremism, terrorism and other criminal activities. More jobs and economic avenues in Afghanistan would create the conducive conditions for Afghans to stay and contribute to its development," said Singh.
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The 'Heart of Asia' (HoA) conference was attended by officials of a number of countries including Pakistan Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry and Deputy Foreign Minister of Afghanistan Hekmat Karzai.
The key elements of HoA process have been to devise a sustained, incremental approach to implementation of the confidence building measures (CBM) in Afghanistan and the officials are set to deliberate on them during the conference.
In HoA process, India has been demanding dismantling safe havens and sanctuaries of terror in the region besides pressing for deeper engagement of various stakeholders for Afghanistan's stability and security.
India is against mainstreaming of armed groups without adhering to the red lines. It has also been seeking action on combating the twin scourges of extremism and separatism besides emphasising on disrupting financial and other support to terrorism.
India has also been favouring enhancing connectivity of Afghanistan with regional markets.
The first foreign ministers-level meeting of the HoA process was held under the aegis of the 'Istanbul Conference' in November, 2011. It presented a new vision of cooperation and confidence building for the region with Afghanistan at its centre by bringing together Afghanistan and its surrounding region.
The conference had agreed that the Istanbul Process on Regional Security and Cooperation for a secure and stable Afghanistan is a non-binding process.
The Istanbul process is consistent with India's vision of achieving lasting stability and prosperity for Afghanistan, anchored in a regional environment that is stable, economically integrated and conducive to shared prosperity.
The second ministerial conference was held in 2012 in Kabul while the third in 2013 in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
The fourth conference took place in Beijing and the fifth conference was held in Islamabad in December last year which was attended by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.
India hosted the senior officials Meeting of the Istanbul process in January 17, 2014 in New Delhi. India is set to host the 6th Ministerial Conference of the HoA Process in the last quarter of 2016.
The 14 participating countries in HoA process are Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and UAE.
The supporting countries include Australia, Canada, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Iraq, Japan, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, England, the US and the EU.
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It was a consultative meeting - the first this year - to discuss priorities and agenda for 2016 leading up to a Ministerial conclave to be hosted by India in December this year, official sources said.
As Co-Chair with Afghanistan, India has put forward certain suggestions for greater regional cooperation within HoA to enhance stability, security and prosperity in Afghanistan and in the region, including by pursuing the six ongoing Confidence Building Measures and augmenting regional connectivity, they said.
The meeting condemned the terrorist attack in Kabul on April 19 which killed and maimed mover 400.
Over 40 participating countries and supporting countries and organisations agreed to continue to contribute to ongoing political, security and economic transformation in Afghanistan, sources added.
