Tokyo, July 8 (ANI): External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna on Sunday said Afghanistan continues to be a country that faces an existential threat from terrorism emanating from beyond its borders.
"While we assist Afghanistan in attaining its long-cherished goal of self reliance, we must also acknowledge that despite our successes in Afghanistan, the basic ideological, infrastructural, logistical and financial infrastructure of terror is still intact in the region," said Krishna in his address at the International Conference on Afghanistan.
"Afghanistan continues to be a country that faces an existential threat from terrorism emanating from beyond its borders - a threat that it is fighting every day, and that it is ill-equipped to repel in the absence of substantial assistance from the international community," he added.
Krishna said good governance is crucial to the building of a strong and legitimate state.
"It is this perspective that should animate our thinking when we commit to Afghanistan's long-term future today. This perspective should not only determine the quantum of resources that we commit to Afghanistan, it should also temper the kind of conditionalities that are attached to assistance. Good governance is crucial to the building of a strong and legitimate state. But good governance also requires a strong state that has full control over its territory," said Krishna.
"This is not yet the case in Afghanistan. The Mutual Accountability Framework that has been drafted for this Conference is a noble effort, which we support and welcome. At the same time we believe that true mutuality can only be achieved at equal levels of capacity - and we would not need to have this Conference if that were already the case. Clear and visible support to Afghanistan is crucial in order to preserve the gains made by the international community and Afghan men and women in the past decade," he added.
Krishna further said the figures that have been put forward as development assistance to Afghanistan represent a base-line or minimum requirement for a least developed land-locked country that has experienced externally-imposed conflicts for three decades that has shattered the structures of state and society and continues to face an existential threat of suicide terrorism from across its borders.
"These amounts give a fighting chance for success if they can be optimized and managed in a frugal way without excessive administrative costs. Indigenization of aid management while upholding best practices should be one of our aims in the Transformation Decade," he added.
Krishna pointed out that India has shared significant resources for Afghanistan's reconstruction and development in spite of not being a traditional donor country.
"On our part, I would like to reiterate that India does not visualise its partnership with Afghanistan as conditions-based or transitory, nor are we looking to transition out of this partnership. In spite of not being a traditional donor country, we have shared significant resources for Afghanistan's reconstruction and development," said Krishna.
"During his landmark visit to Afghanistan last year, our Prime Minister pledged an additional USD 500 million to our development portfolio so far, bringing our total cumulative commitment to 2 billion dollars. A large portion of this assistance has either been disbursed or is committed to ongoing projects," he added.
Krishna said India is also committed to begin a number of new projects over the course of the coming year.
"All these projects have been initiated on the specific request of the Government of Afghanistan, and hence are in line with the Afghan development priorities. Also, Indian projects avoid the multiple-levels of subcontracting and dependence on private security companies that add to the overhead costs of the work done by many other development partners of Afghanistan," said Krishna.
"As a result, we have managed to carry out some of the most economical and cost-effective projects in Afghanistan. The USD 500 million assistance announced by Prime Minister of India in May 2011 will be spent from 2012 through 2015. The projects will be in line with the projects suggested under the National Priority Programmes of the Government of Afghanistan," he added. (ANI)
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