Addressing delegates at a peace conference in Kabul, the president said that civil society, youth and women need to play a key role in the peace process.
President Ashraf Ghani on Wednesday said that regional talks, Islamic talks and international peace talks will be held after the 2nd Kabul Process which is scheduled for next month.
Speaking at the conclusion of a peace conference with civil society, youth and women in Kabul, Ghani said: “The war is not Afghanistan’s, it is a war on Afghanistan.”
He also said that the total value of opium in the country is estimated at about $2.1 billion USD and that if left in peace, Afghanistan could make billions in legitimate money in Helmand. He did not however give details.
He also said that civil society, youth and women’s roles is key in the peace process, adding that Afghanistan has the best Islamic constitution in the world.
He said that Afghanistan has faced an ongoing crisis for the past four decades and that the country’s youth, women and civil society must also work to end the crisis.
“This is a crisis and not natural and we don’t want to live in a crisis anymore,” Ghani said.
On Pakistan, Ghani said that Afghanistan and Pakistan can become prosperous.
“We need all-round negotiations with Pakistan. We have raised our negotiations hand,” Ghani said.
On the economy, Ghani said Afghanistan is a “wealthy country” but “we still raise our hands for help from other countries.”
He believes that water could be one of the great sources of wealth for Afghanistan in the upcoming 40 years along with mining, and said: “Our Hajigak mine alone has 200-billion-tons of iron.”
He also stated that Afghanistan will not be a complete unit as “we have four million refugees outside the country.”
This article originally appeared on TOLO News on January 17, 2018. Original link.
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