What can enduring peace bring with it?

Afghans have drawn up the red lines. Quite recently H.E. our President held a consultative peace assembly attended by over 3,000 people from across all walks in Afghanistan. He reminded the people that the country could make a significant turnaround in the entire region and become a place where people, mind and goods flow effortlessly.

Let me also take this opportunity to mention the red lines: the Constitution of Afghanistan, for one, is the people’s redline. The name Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is another red line for the nation. Then we have women’s rights, human rights, freedom of expression. There’ve been huge gains in these areas in the last 18 years. These are red lines that our people want preserved. We want enduring peace. Afghanistan is building up consensus both at the international and regional level on this. That is why H.E. our President travelled to a couple of countries in the region, essentially to talk to their leadership bring them on the same page when it comes to peace in Afghanistan. We’ve always emphasized that peace in Afghanistan is peace in the region.

Afghanistan is located in the heart of Asia. So if Afghanistan is safe, the region flourishes by way of trade and connectivity. We could even return to the days of the Silk Route. Today, we are no longer a landlocked country, instead we are a land-bridged nation. We’ve an air corridor with India and few other countries. We’ve got the Chabahar port which connects us to India.