• Sri Lanka must increase diplomatic presence in Kabul 
• Future US military involvement in Afghanistan would be conditional 
• Afghanistan to learn lessons from Sri Lanka’s war on terror
• Given our geographic centrality for transit trade, including energy, no major connectivity project can bypass us
• Direct air connectivity sought between Afghanistan and Sri Lanka

Afghanistan has been a victim of years of terrorism which continues to destabilize an otherwise peaceful country with a youthful, resilient and enterprising population. In an interview with  Afghanistan’s Ambassador to Sri Lanka M. Ashraf Haidari spoke on the impact terrorism is having in his country, lessons Afghanistan seeks to learn from Sri Lanka’s war on terror and future collaboration to curb drug trafficking
Excerpts: 

Q  We all know that Afghanistan has been seriously affected by terrorism. Briefly tell us how terrorism has impacted your country.

Sadly, yes. Please allow me to note that Afghans are one of the most peace-loving nations of the world, hardly ever venturing to interfere in the affairs of other countries, be they in our neighborhood or elsewhere. As a landlocked country, we realise that the peace, stability, and prosperity of our beautiful homeland rely on our immediate and extended neighbourhood, including Sri Lanka. Thus, our foreign policy seeks and often initiates win-win cooperation and partnerships on any issues of interest and concern in our bilateral and multilateral relationship with others.  

Despite this, however, Afghanistan has been a victim of ongoing interference and aggression from outside, including the state sponsorship of terrorism, which continues to destabilize our otherwise peaceful country with a youthful, resilient, and enterprising population. As we speak, there are over a dozen terrorist groups, including Al Qaeda and ISIS, operating under the Taliban umbrella with safe havens in our immediate neighbourhood. Terrorist attacks carried out daily by these groups over the past 19 years have cost Afghanistan in direct and indirect ways; while undermining regional stability and international security.  .

Moreover, terrorism has sapped our meager resources due to heavy military spending in defence of our country. The billions we spend annually on fighting terrorism could otherwise be spent on achieving our long-term sustainable development goals

On average, terrorism has claimed the lives and limbs of some 10,000 innocent Afghans annually, while many others have been internally displaced or driven out of the country. At the same time, terrorists have repeatedly targeted Afghanistan’s service-delivery infrastructure, including roads, highways, bridges, transmission lines, schools, universities, hospitals, airports and so on. Consequently a lack of these basic services has also caused civilian deaths and unspeakable human suffering across Afghanistan; especially during long winters.  

Moreover, terrorism has sapped our meager resources due to heavy military spending in defence of our country. The billions we spend annually on fighting terrorism could otherwise be spent on achieving our long-term sustainable development goals. This can include establishing full-spectrum connectivity between Afghanistan as the heart of Asia and our six neighbours and others further afield. As you see, if peace was given a chance to replace the imposed terror campaign in Afghanistan, every state in the region would benefit from increased connectivity for trade, investment and people-to-people ties. 

That is why we have strengthened and emphasise regional consensus for resolving the imposed war through a negotiated political settlement, one that preserves the Islamic Republic, including our hard-earned democratic gains during the past 19 years. Such an outcome will certainly serve the short- and long-term interests of all our near and far neighbours, who remain concerned about the intertwined security threats of terrorism, radicalism, criminality, including drug and human trafficking as the spillover effects of the imposed war in Afghanistan.

As we speak, the negotiating team of the Islamic Republic remains in Doha, continuing to wait for the Taliban to deliver on their commitments that include a results-driven negotiating process and a notable reduction in violence across Afghanistan

   
Q Even today we hear stories of the Taliban carrying out isolated attacks and threatening even ordinary people. How safe is your country?

Afghanistan could easily be one of the most peaceful and stable countries of our region if the imposed war- with external state sponsorship- ends and genuine peace is given a chance to replace the enormous human suffering, the ongoing imposed terror campaign has created. That said, we are immensely proud of the Afghan Security and Defence Forces who have been carrying out over ninety five percent of all military operations against the Taliban and the latter’s affiliated terrorist groups, including Al Qaeda and ISIS. Our brave forces are not only battling against terrorists to secure Afghanistan and protect our people, but are also helping to ensure regional stability and international peace.   

But despite terrorists’ relentless efforts to destabilise Afghanistan there are many parts of the country where security prevails—allowing normal life, economic activity and the functioning of our state institutions at the provincial, district, and village levels to deliver services to our citizens. The province of Bamiyan, which houses the revered statues of Buddha, stands out. For example this is where our people usually visit during weekend picnics. Similar areas in the west, north, northeast, south and east of Afghanistan exist where our brave forces maintain security, protecting our citizens and their normal way of life.  

Q  Is Afghanistan looking at partnering with Sri Lanka in the fight against drug-trafficking; which is now seen as a regional and global security threat and a public health hazard?

Yes, there is much that we can do together to fight narcotics, including its cultivation, production and trafficking to Sri Lanka and the rest of South Asia. That is why we have welcomed the appointment of Ambassador-Designate Piyal De Silva, who, as a former Navy Commander, possesses relevant counter-narcotics experience, and we look forward to working with him to develop the necessary security and law enforcement institutional ties to stem the flow of Taliban-produced drugs to Sri Lanka through Pakistan.  

That said, however, drug production in Afghanistan is driven by constant and even growing regional and global demand for narcotics, which transnational criminal networks, with ties to regional intelligence outfits and their terrorist mercenaries, supply. As I said earlier, this global security and public health challenge needs the totality of international cooperation to defeat and eliminate drugs altogether. Afghanistan has so far done its lion’s share, daily losing brave police and soldiers in the fight against drugs. Others must do their part, including supporting our Government’s counter-narcotics lead.   

Yes, there is much that we can do together to fight narcotics, including its cultivation, production and trafficking to Sri Lanka and the rest of South Asia. That is why we have welcomed the appointment of Ambassador-Designate Piyal De Silva, who, as a former Navy Commander, possesses relevant counter-narcotics experience

 
Q The US has played a big role in ensuring security in your country. But this has also angered some other stakeholders. How do you see future US involvement in Afghanistan?

The United States is one of our foundational strategic partners, with which we have signed a Bilateral Security Agreement and a Strategic Partnership Agreement, which underpin our ever-growing ties based on our shared interests. This includes the institutionalization of democracy in Afghanistan and the need to confront the intertwined challenges of terrorism, radicalism, and criminality with regional and transnational roots, which seek to undo the shared gains of Afghanistan, the US, and our neighbours, including India and China.  

In this light, we are grateful to the American Government and is people for their continued strong support of Afghanistan’s stabilization, sustainable development and our democratic achievements over the past 19 years. America’s current and future military involvement in Afghanistan would very much remain conditions-based where if we achieve sustainable and dignified peace in Afghanistan, we would reassess international military aid and make appropriate adjustments to reflect the ground realities.  

Recalling the tragic events of 9/11, which resulted from the negligence of Afghanistan’s post-Cold War stabilization and reconstruction, we count on all our international partners to stay the course. Afghanistan’s democratic journey is a work in progress and thus in need of continued bi-partisan support in the US where current and former US diplomats and generals with experience in Afghanistan understand all too well. Together we can and must see Afghanistan’s democratic journey through, as the Afghan people have embraced democracy against

totalitarianism, which we once experienced under the tyranny of the Taliban, who sheltered Al Qaeda and enabled them to target the US on 9/11.  

Q Afghanistan and the Taliban are looking to end the fighting. There have been talks in Doha as well. Sri Lanka has had a bad experience when trying to negotiate peace with the LTTE. Do you think the Taliban will even be genuine about peace?

Indeed, Sri Lanka’s overall experience, including its mediated peace process during the war years, remains instructive. Unlike Sri Lanka, however, Afghanistan is fighting multiple regional and global terrorist and criminal groups. As I said, these terrorist groups operate under the umbrella of the Taliban with safe havens in our neighborhood. Since the end of the transition process in 2014, when most of the NATO troops withdrew from Afghanistan, our brave forces have been conducting over 95% of all military operations against terrorist groups; including Al Qaeda and ISIS. Afghan soldiers have not only given their precious lives and limbs for defending our beautiful homeland, but they have also helped ensure regional stability and international peace.  

The United States is one of our foundational strategic partners, with which we have signed a Bilateral Security Agreement and a Strategic Partnership Agreement, which underpin our ever-growing ties based on our shared interests

As we continue defending our country against external aggression, the Government of Afghanistan has pursued a path to peace through a negotiated settlement with the Taliban. As we speak, the negotiating team of the Islamic Republic remains in Doha, continuing to wait for the Taliban to deliver on their commitments that include a results-driven negotiating process and a notable reduction in violence across Afghanistan followed by a humanitarian and permanent ceasefires in the country. These are the key demands of the Afghan people, whose representatives met in a Consultative Peace Jirga last August and authorized our Government to release over 5,000 Taliban prisoners as a concession for achieving dignified and sustainable peace. 

So far, the Taliban has faltered and failed to engage with our negotiating team constructively, while escalating violence in much of Afghanistan and daily killing are maiming innocent civilians. But if they choose the right path, shed foreign influence and control and give peace talks a genuine chance, I am confident that we would achieve lasting peace in Afghanistan. And, indeed, to foster post-conflict peace and prosperity we would certainly draw on international experience, including relevant lessons to be learned from Sri Lanka, to implement effective peace-building programmes.    

Q  How can Sri Lanka benefit from a stronger diplomatic presence in Afghanistan?

Afghanistan is the heart of Asia; the gateway to all Silk Roads in all directions: north and south; east and west. We sit right between South Asia and Central Asia, awaiting sustainable peace to be achieved with regional cooperation and support, so that Afghanistan can play our natural role as a land-bridge between the subcontinent, South West Asia, and Central Asia.  

Given our geographic centrality for transit trade, including energy, no major connectivity project can bypass us. That is why Sri Lanka would greatly benefit from a beefed-up presence in Afghanistan (with a population of over 30 million consumers) where your Embassy should work to help the Sri Lankan private sector take advantage of the numerous investment opportunities in our virgin markets, while looking northwards to explore similar opportunities in Central Asia (with a population of over 70 million consumers).    

Q  You have been pushing for stronger trade relations between both countries. What are some of the key business and investment opportunities which Sri Lankan investors should know about and explore?

Despite the COVID-19 challenge I worked hard over the past few months to facilitate the recent signing of a cooperation MOU between the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Investment and the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce. I did so knowing the vast trade and investment potential on both sides that need to be realised. As I discussed with H.E. President Rajapaksa and the Honorable Prime Minister Rajapaksa as soon as we have established direct air connectivity between our two countries, Sri Lanka’s tourism industry, including medical tourism and higher education tourism, would immensely benefit from Afghanistan’s demand in this mega sector. I have no doubt that within a year of such connectivity, we could easily need to operate a daily fight between Kabul and Colombo—carrying tourists seeking rest and recuperation, patients seeking treatment, students seeking quality education and business people seeking investment opportunities.  

Moreover, Sri Lanka’s principal products such as Ceylon tea; apparel and textiles; spices; food, feed, and beverages; and coconut and coconut-based products could easily find profitable markets in Afghanistan. For example, we are a tea-drinking nation and every adult Afghan could consume more than six cups of tea a day, while we produce no tea. That is why I’ve been encouraging the tea industry of Sri Lanka to make a move and begin exporting your tasteful tea varieties to Afghanistan with consistent demand for this signature Sri Lankan product. 

In the same vein, I have encouraged the jewellery sector of Sri Lanka to visit Kabul and see for themselves the endless investment opportunities in this virgin market in Afghanistan as one of the minerally richest countries in the world with large reserves of precious and semi-precious stones. Here, we not only need your exploration and extraction technical know-how, but also Sri Lanka’s experience and expertise in processing, designing, and marketing our precious and semi-precious stones, including emerald, ruby, lapis lazuli, garnet, tourmaline, and others.