I bring to all warm
greetings and the good wishes of the Afghan people.
I have the honour to address the General Assembly
in the last year of the current elected Government of
Afghanistan. I therefore think that it is useful briefly to
revisit the story of Afghanistan over the past 12 years,
our historic successes, the achievements that have
transformed Afghanistan and, yes, the challenges we
have faced continuously during that time. I should
then like to share with the Assembly the vision of
the Afghan people and Government for the future of
freedom, dignity, prosperity and democracy that we
are striving to solidify in our country and, briefly, to
address the critical importance of our relations and
cooperation with countries in our region and with the
broader community of nations.
To better illustrate the journey that Afghanistan
and its noble people have been on over the past 12 years,
I should like to share two contrasting pictures of the
reality of Afghanistan — in the year 2001, at the time of
the collapse of the Taliban regime, and in the year 2013,
as we are going through a historic period and a process
of transition.
For a little more than two decades prior to November
2001, when the Afghan people ousted the Taliban regime
from power, with military backing from the United
States-led international military coalition, the people
of Afghanistan suffered incalculable pain, deprivation
and losses through three distinct periods. Between
the communist coup in 1978, followed by the invasion
of our country in 1979, and the fall of the communist
regime, more than 1 million Afghan men, women and
children were killed, more than 2 million were made
orphans or left with severe war wounds, and more than
5 million were forced out of their villages and towns
into refugee camps in neighbouring countries, mainly
in Pakistan and Iran, as a result of the brutality of the
occupation and the communist regime and in the course
of our resistance against that occupation. We fought for
our freedom and independence — our holy jihad — and
we won, in the process helping the national freedom
and independence movements in Eastern Europe.
The international community that had supported our
struggle for several years abandoned us when the defeat
and withdrawal of the Red Army became apparent.
Exploiting the vacuum and internal strife created during
the early 1990s, the foreign-backed Taliban movement
rose to power and quickly controlled more than 90 per
cent of Afghan territory. Then, equally quickly, they
removed their masks and revealed their true identity,
holding the Afghan nation hostage and embarking on a
period of particularly cruel and barbaric violence and
cruelty under the guise of Islam. With their backward
views, violence and brutal suppression of the rights and
freedoms of the Afghan people, especially women, they
turned our country against itself. The international
community did not mobilize to take action against the
Taliban regime until the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the
United States, including in this city.
At the end of 2001, when, with the military backing
of the United States-led international coalition, we were
getting ready to drive the Taliban regime from power,
Afghanistan was in near-total isolation from the region
and the world community. The Afghan people were a
terrorized population, without rights or freedoms and
without protection from the Taliban regime’s brutality.
Severe poverty and disease were endemic, with little
or no access to health-care services. The education
system, which completely excluded women and girls
and had fewer than half a million male students
attending schools and universities, was a catastrophic
failure. The average annual per capita income was
about $100 and the country lacked a single national
currency. Our roads, bridges, irrigation networks and
other components of critical national infrastructure
were completely destroyed. Afghanistan was without
a national army or a national police force, and all our
other State institutions had been reduced to nothing. In
short, Afghanistan was a failed State, ruled by a proxy
militant group that provided shelter to international
terrorists, thus posing a real danger to regional and
international peace and security.
The situation in Afghanistan during that period
was indeed bleak. The Afghan people had little hope for
their own or their children’s future. However, following
the Al-Qaida terrorist attacks in the United States, the
Afghan people came together and, with support from the
United States and a multitude of other friends and allies
in the international community, removed the Taliban
from power and embarked upon a new era of hope,
reconstruction, development and progress — a new
era marked by an entirely different reality. Primarily
as a result of our own sacrifices and the considerable
sacrifices and support of our international friends and
allies during our 12-year partnership, Afghanistan once
again has become the home of all Afghans, men and
women, where they enjoy equal rights and freedoms
under our democratic Constitution.
Today Afghanistan is a forward-looking young
democracy with functioning State institutions, an elected
President, an elected Parliament and elected provincial
councils in each one of our 34 provinces, backed up by a
powerful civil society movement. Afghan independent
media, with approximately 50 independent television
channels, more than 100 community FM radio stations
and hundreds of print publications, are arguably among
the freest in the region. Today there are more than
20 million mobile-phone users across Afghanistan,
an increasing number of them accessing information
and using various platforms on the Internet. Per capita
income has increased from $100 a year to $600 a year,
our national currency has been consistently stable,
and our trade ties with the outside world are rapidly
expanding.
Today in the new Afghanistan the number of children
attending school stands at well over 10 million, 40 per
cent of them girls, and there are hundreds of thousands
of young men and women attending some 70 public
and private colleges and universities. More than 70 per
cent of our people today have access to basic health-
care services. That, among other things, has increased
average life expectancy from approximately 40 years to
more the 60 years in just one decade.
We have built thousands of kilometres of roads,
irrigation canals, bridges and other pieces of our
country’s critical physical infrastructure, thereby
cutting travel time and facilitating trade and movement
within the country and with neighbouring countries.
Afghanistan today is a proud and active member of
the international community, while managing its ever-
expanding relations and cooperation with countries and
organizations throughout the world, through a network
of some 70 diplomatic and consular missions.
The examples of rejuvenation and development,
progress and achievements that I have just described
represent the true picture of today’s Afghanistan.
Considering that 12 years is not a very long time in
the history of a country, especially a country such as
Afghanistan, which has gone through more than 35
years of war and destruction, those achievements and
gains are nothing short of a historic transformation.
I have drawn that clear contrast between the
Afghanistan of 10 years ago and the positive reality of
today for two main reasons: first, to underscore a model
of collective action and international cooperation in
support of one country’s efforts to establish peace,
security and development; and, secondly, to counter
a narrative of doom and gloom for Afghanistan by
those who are ignorant about our progress, or who
harbour ill-will towards us. The new Afghanistan is
indeed currently going through a critical period of
security, economic and political transition that comes
with its difficulties and challenges but that is helping
us to consolidate our fledgling democratic order and
strengthening our national sovereignty, independence
and ownership of our own affairs.
That is the vision of the Afghan people and
Government for the years leading up to the completion
of the transition in 2014 and into the transformation
decade of 2015 to 2024. In the security area it is our
more than 350,000 brave and professional soldiers
and police officers — not foreign soldiers — who are
directly responsible for the security of more than 90 per
cent of the Afghan population. The transfer of security
responsibilities from the international forces to Afghan
national security forces, launched in the summer of
2011, will be completed throughout the country by
the end of 2014. Our forces have demonstrated their
courage, commitment and effectiveness in successfully
taking over from their international partners. It is
through the enormous and selfless sacrifices of our
proud and patriotic national security forces on a daily
basis that security in most cities and towns that have
gone through transition has improved and the Taliban
have been beaten back. We are fully confident that, with
the continued financial assistance of the international
community for equipment and other requirements and
needs, as pledged at the Chicago NATO Summit in May
2012, Afghan national forces will be able to provide
security to the Afghan people and defend the country
against external threats.
Parallel to our ongoing efforts to enhance the
capacity and capabilities of our national security
forces, the Afghan Government is pursuing a political
process of peace and reconciliation with the Taliban.
The key principles and conditions for that process
are clear: respect for Afghanistan’s Constitution,
which guarantees full and equal rights to Afghan
men and women; the preservation and enhancement
of the advances made over the past decade; and the
renunciation of violence against the population.
The Islamic Republic of Pakistan, a major neighbour,
can play a key role in supporting our peace process.
We have been heartened by the recent successful visit
to Islamabad by President Karzai and the positive and
constructive dialogue that took place between the two
Governments during that visit. We look forward to
further steps and progress in the weeks and months to
come. Pakistan’s essential role in advancing the Afghan
peace process is a clear example of the support that
Afghanistan’s neighbours and other countries in the
region, especially Muslim countries, can provide to the
Afghan peace process.
As far as the economic component of transition
is concerned, the presence of a large international
military force over the past 10 years has generated
employment and income opportunities for thousands of
our citizens, so it is natural that there will be an adverse
impact resulting from the withdrawal of those forces.
In addition to our best efforts to fulfil Afghanistan’s
role as the trade, transit and economic integration
roundabout in the heart of Asia region for the benefit
of all people of the region, the Afghan Government is
keen to reduce the negative economic impact of the
international military withdrawal and to strengthen our
national economy in at least three ways.
The first is by focusing on the development of the
agriculture and agribusiness sector, in which more than
70 per cent of our population is directly or indirectly
engaged, and where there is enormous potential for
growth and employment generation.
Secondly, Afghanistan is estimated to hold trillions
of dollars of natural resources, including minerals and
hydrocarbons, representing a guaranteed source of
wealth and income for generations to come. We already
have several State-owned and private companies — from
China, India, the United Kingdom, Canada, Turkey, the
United Arab Emirates and other countries, in addition
to Afghan companies — expressing a keen interest in
investing billions of dollars in copper, iron ore, gold,
rare-Earth minerals, oil and gas. We are actively
seeking to attract additional foreign investment to this
sector, while remaining duly diligent to make sure that
our natural riches serve the goal of a strong legitimate
national economy and improved prosperity and welfare
for the Afghan people.
Thirdly, the Tokyo Conference last July pledged
more than $16 billion through 2015 to help the Afghan
Government fill its projected fiscal gap. Conference
participants also committed to providing additional
financial assistance to Afghanistan beyond 2016 at
or near the levels of the past decade. That generous
financial support will be critical in tiding us over the
next few years.
In addition to the security and economic transitions,
we have a crucial political transition coming up next
year, namely, the presidential and provincial council
elections. Next year’s presidential elections will mark
the first time in our history that one elected President
will transfer power to another elected President
through a peaceful democratic process. The Afghan
Government is doing everything possible to ensure
free, fair and credible elections, so that the Afghan
people can choose who the next President will be. A
successful presidential election will entrench our
democratic process and greatly contribute to our efforts
towards lasting peace, security and prosperity.
As we go forward in implementing the transition
agenda and preparing for the transformation decade,
another key foundation of our long-term success will
be the strategic partnerships we have forged with some
of our closest friends and allies over the past few years.
Since October 2011, when we signed our first long-term
strategic partnership agreement with the Republic of
India, we have entered into similar partnerships with the
United States, Germany, Australia, France, the United
Kingdom, Italy, Norway, Finland, Denmark and Poland.
We have also concluded or are currently negotiating
similar partnerships with the European Union, Turkey
and the United Arab Emirates. In that regard, I should
like to reiterate the Afghan Government and people’s
appreciation for the solid and broad-based expression of
long-term political support for a peaceful, prosperous,
democratic Afghanistan by more than 100 countries
and organizations at the historic international Bonn
Conference, kindly hosted by the German Government
in December 2011.
With the United States, we are negotiating a
separate bilateral security agreement that will define
the parameters of the long-term security and defence
cooperation between our two countries. I should like
to reiterate our long-standing principled position that
any bilateral security agreements that Afghanistan
signs with other countries, including the United States,
will be purely for the purpose of ensuring peace,
security, development and the consolidation of our
young democracy, and not directed at our neighbours
or any countries in the region. Afghanistan belongs to
its region. As recent history has clearly demonstrated,
the peace, security and stability of Afghanistan, as the
centre of the heart of Asia region, has a direct impact
on the peace, security and stability of the entire region,
and vice versa. We want Afghanistan to serve its
rightful role as a key land bridge in our vital region
for the flow of people, goods and investments. In that
context, the Istanbul Process on Regional Security and
Cooperation for a Secure and Stable Afghanistan, which
we launched together with our Turkish friends and all
other participating and supporting States in November
2011, is of vital importance for confidence-building
and promoting results-oriented cooperation.
Two follow-on ministerial meetings, in Kabul in
June 2012 and in Almaty in April of this year, have
taken the Process to the level of maturity. It has now
developed into a meaningful forum for discussion on
specific confidence-building measures and enjoys
considerable momentum. As the permanent co-Chair
of the Process, the Afghan Government is particularly
grateful to the People’s Republic of China for hosting
the next ministerial meeting next summer.
In addition to improving cooperation and confidence
on a whole range of other issues, all countries in our
region, and our allies and friends in the international
community, must continue decisively to confront
the single biggest challenge that still endangers our
collective peace and security and undermines the
welfare of our people, namely, the continuing menace
of terrorism and extremism and their sanctuaries and
support systems in the region. We will not achieve the
full potential of our citizens or realize true and lasting
peace and security in Afghanistan or the wider region
until we have dealt decisively with the brutality and
evilness of the terrorists who try to harm us every day.
Fortunately, we are more hopeful now than in the past
about a gathering common approach against terrorism
and extremism in our region.
This year’s General Assembly session is taking place
at a time in which the United Nations has seen a number
of conflicts continue, while new ones have taken shape.
In Syria, we watch the ongoing immeasurable suffering
of the great people of that country. Afghanistan calls
for an immediate halt to the violence there, which has
taken the lives of more than 100,000 people, forced
more than 2 million Syrians to become refugees and
left 6.8 million people in urgent need of humanitarian
assistance. We strongly support a political solution,
reached through a broad-based national dialogue that
meets the aspirations of all Syrians. Moreover, the
international community must provide the support
necessary to address the humanitarian needs of those
affected by the conflict, including the millions who
have sought refuge in neighbouring countries.
Speaking of long-standing conflicts, none is more
evident than the decades-long strife between Palestine
and Israel. Following years of deadlock and impasse,
we see that renewed efforts for a peaceful settlement
have emerged with the resumption of direct negotiations
between the two sides. That is an important development,
which we hope will result in durable peace, enabled by
the establishment of an independent Palestinian State.
We also hope to witness the inclusion of the State of
Palestine as a full Member of the Organization.
In conclusion, as I stand before the Assembly, I
feel more strongly than ever that our shared vision of a
world free from violence, conflict and destitution will
be achieved only if we put our differences aside and act
as one. If we adhere to the principles of understanding,
solidarity and cooperation, we will be able to secure our
collective future, as evidenced in the historic successes
we have achieved in Afghanistan over the past 12 years.
The United Nations has been a reliable partner in
helping us come this far. As we prepare to embark upon
the transformation decade, we expect the Organization
to continue its support through a renewed approach that
reinforces Afghanistan’s leadership and ownership. Let
me also assure the Assembly that, as we in Afghanistan
work to preserve our gains and consolidate our young
democracy in the crucial years ahead, we will remain
an active Member of the United Nations.