Heart of Asia: Jaitley stresses on strong Indo-Afghanistan ties

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Sunday called for collective efforts to ensure that terrorism and extremism do not find safe havens in any form in the region.

Amritsar, Dec 4: Emphasising that Afghanistan has faced gruesome violence for decades, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Sunday called for collective efforts to ensure that terrorism and extremism do not find safe havens in any form in the region.

In a veiled reference to Pakistan during his Heart of Asia address, Jaitley said, "Neighbours of Afghanistan have a particular responsibility in this regard (nurturing terrorism)".

"Taliban, LeT, JeM etc are all terror organisations and should be treated as such," he added.

Jaitley said the key focus during India's co-chairmanship of this process has been to centre-stage the importance of connectivity for Afghanistan, which is at the very core of India's cooperation with Afghanistan and also in the region.

"Afghanistan has the potential to be the land bridge between various parts of the vast and dynamic Eurasian landmass. There are many promising projects like the TAPI gas pipeline, TAT railway line, CASA 1000. They will bring prosperity to Afghanistan and bring the Central Asian and South Asian regions closer together," said Jaitley addressing the conference.

"Achieved a milestone by signing trilateral transit and transport agreement among India, Iran and Afghan (Chabahar Port)," he added.

He said it has been India's endeavour to promote political consultations and regional cooperation through this platform for a strong, independent and prosperous Afghanistan.

[Read more at: Heart of Asia: Amritsar Declaration calls for elimination of terror ]

The theme for this year's conference is 'Addressing Challenges, Achieving Prosperity'.

On the side lines of Heart of Asia summit Prime Minister Narendra Modi also shared India's vision and commitment for a united, stable, prosperous, peaceful and democratic Afghanistan.

The conference is aimed to gear international cooperation to see the emergence of such a prosperous Afghanistan.

OneIndia News