Please talk us through the significance of this Independence Day…

This will be the 100th anniversary of Afghanistan’s Independence Day and, therefore, highly significant. That’s why we are trying to make it as big as possible. At least seven cultural programmes have been organized in India. The biggest one will be a grand party that should be attended by at least a thousand diplomats and our Indian friends here. In Delhi and in Chandigarh we’ll have a food festival to introduce Afghan cuisine to our Indian friends. For that we’ve collaborated with an Indian foundation. We’ll have fashion shows and interactions with filmmakers. There will be a night of ghazal—the fare will be pure Afghan classical music. With the funding of USAID, we are doing the Passage to Prosperity—a business event where hundreds of Afghan traders will showcase their products. We’ll have a cricket match between the University of Delhi and Afghan students right here at the embassy. We’ll also have experts that will be talking about diplomatic relationships between India and Afghanistan. This year also happens to commemorate the 72nd anniversary of diplomatic ties between our two nations.

This question relates to the neighborhood. Afghanistan has recently strongly protested Pakistan’s statement that developments in Kashmir could affect the Afghan peace process. The statement was officially termed “reckless, unwarranted and irresponsible.” Kindly share your own views on this subject…

Well let me be very specific and very brief on this matter. Our position in the Afghan Government is that what happens in Kashmir is an internal issue of India. And it has got nothing to do with us.