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Afghanistan moving towards self-reliance: Officials

WASHINGTON: Observing that progress is beginning to define and shape the future of Afghanistan, a top United Nations official has told the powerful Security Council the country is making its way towards self-reliance.

Addressing a special meeting of the Security Council on Afghanistan, Herve Ladsous, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, said significant progress affecting Afghanistan had been made during two international conferences in Kabul and Chicago -- a third to be held in Tokyo in July -- beginning to define and shape the future of the country “as it makes its way towards self-reliance”.

In addition, regional progress at the Kabul ministerial conference on 14th June -- part of the Istanbul Process -- included seven confidence-building measures addressing security, stability, economic development and humanitarian response, with more measures expected and UN’s support requested in each initiative.

The recently concluded NATO Summit in Chicago, he said, went a long way towards shaping long-term support to Afghan National Security Forces, with financial and technical guarantees given and previous timelines reconfirmed.

“Providing this level of clarity and commitment on continued support to the security sector helps to dampen growing anxiety both within Afghanistan as well as among its international partners as to the post-2014 situation.� It also reinforces the message from the international community that transition will not translate into abandonment of Afghanistan,” Ladsous said.

The Afghan Ambassador to the UN, Zahir Tanin, told the Security Council, that besides entering into strategic partnership agreement with a number of countries including the US, India, France and Germany, discussions are under way to conclude similar pacts with Turkey, Norway and the European Union.

“And, in our region, we signed a strategic partnership with India, a country with whom we have shared historic and traditional ties,” he said, adding his country had also taken important steps towards establishing a strategic partnership with China.

The US Ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, said America’s commitment to Afghanistan is “real and enduring,” adding that the strategic accord was just one piece of a larger international effort to support Afghanistan’s march towards self-reliance and stability.

Noting that the transition is on track and NATO stood united behind the Lisbon timetable, she welcomed the recent “Heart of Asia” conference as a vital move towards regional stability and security.

The US looks forward to the upcoming Tokyo conference as a crucial opportunity for Afghanistan to set out measures for improving governance and intensifying its fight against corruption.

The British Ambassador to the UN, Mark Lyall Grant welcomed the success of the May NATO conference in Chicago, which he said sent a clear message to the Afghan people that they would not be abandoned, as well as sending a message to the insurgency “that they could not wait us out”.

He looked forward to the July Tokyo conference, maintaining that a strong signal of enduring commitment should be made there, with development commitments extending at least until 2017.� As part of that, he looked forward to work on empowering women to play a full role in the future Afghan state and stressed the need for the government to meet its commitments in fighting corruption and improving other areas.

Earlier in his report on Afghanistan, the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the Tokyo conference “must deliver a clear message that Afghanistan will not be abandoned in its development and social needs,” adding that tangible commitments are required regarding long-term support to Afghanistan, its self-reliance strategy and its national priority programmes.__PAN

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