Afghanistan, 2013

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.