Following is the text of the speech made by External Affairs Minister SM Krishna at the international Afghanistan conference in Bonn
Your Excellency President Karzai,
Your Excellencies the Foreign Ministers of Afghanistan and Germany,
Excellencies ladies and gentlemen,
We are getting together in Bonn once again after 10 years for another historic and fateful moment in Afghanistan's recent history, a moment of hope as well as anxiety. What we decide here today, will decide the fate of Afghanistan and the region, and probably beyond, for at least another generation. Therefore, we must decide well and wisely.
Over the last 30 odd years, Afghanistan has seen domestic political struggles, destabilizing foreign intervention of various kinds, internal conflict and civil war, repressive fundamentalist rule, and foreign interference in Afghanistan's internal affairs on a large scale. These left the Afghan state and society devastated, and Afghanistan itself a staging ground for regional and international terrorism.
The task before Afghanistan and the international community since the end of 2001 therefore, has been to reverse that fate and set Afghanistan firmly on the road to recovery, reconstruction, security, development and prosperity.
Much has been achieved since then: a new democratic Constitution adopted, Presidential and Parliamentary elections held twice around, new institutional foundations laid, schools, health centres and roads built, school enrolment up, girls educated, health services brought to people, infant mortality reduced, women restored to public life, and large numbers of refugees and expatriates returned to rebuild a new Afghanistan of their hopes. The physical and socio- economic security provided by international forces and international assistance program has been a sine qua non for these dramatic improvements.
But much remains to be done, and there have been reverses in the security situation on the ground and in public faith in the future of Afghanistan. Ten years is too short a time to rebuild a country even with the best will and efficiency in the world. The international community needs to stay engaged in Afghanistan for the long term, for both its security and development.
Let us not forget why the international community came to Afghanistan. It came because Afghanistan, under the control of an extremist ideology and under the influence of foreign countries, had become a sanctuary for International terror. Terrorism radiated outwards to the region, affecting firstly India, and then other countries. It culminated in the September 11, 2001 terror attacks. The international community then decided that this would not stand, that this bastion of extremism and terrorism was a threat to mankind and had to be replaced.
Today, we have to ask ourselves, if that job is done, whether we have succeeded in eliminating terrorism, and the safe havens and sanctuaries from where it is emanating, right from its source. We have to ask whether, if we withdraw our holding hand, Afghanistan will be able to withstand the forces of (radicalism), extremism and violence, and stand on its own feet. The answer to that question should decide the nature and level of our long-term engagement with Afghanistan.
Fortunately, this extraordinarily well attended Bonn Conference, for which we congratulate the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and thank Germany, is an expression of the international community's determination, that even as it reduces its footprint in Afghanistan, it does not abandon Afghanistan as it did in the 1990's. It marks a political commitment to stay engaged with Afghanistan well into the future.
The strategic partnership agreement that Afghanistan has signed with India, and will in due course sign with the US, EU, France, the UK, Australia (etc) is an encouraging pointer in this direction.
But political commitment and conference decisions alone are not enough. We need to back up our commitments with both resources and actions. We need to avert the possibility that Afghanistan is let down or made to feel abandoned by a withdrawal of assistance, at least in terms of quantity if not quality, of international assistance required, in the era after 2014.
There is a real danger that as international forces withdraw from a combat role and in numbers, there will be a transition 'recession'; i.e. that attention and aid will decline, just as the Afghan government's security demands increase. We should not make the mistakes of the past and let Afghanistan slip back. We must ensure that Afghanistan's security is ensured through non-interference in its internal affairs. It also needs support for economic development. The World Bank study on the looming recession and the fiscal gap that needs to be bridged during this period of transition is a timely warning of the danger of leaving the country to its own devices. We hope that the upcoming conferences in 2012, the Chicago conference in May (on security), the Kabul conference in June (on regional cooperation) and the Tokyo conference in July (on development), will ensure the continued engagement of
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