KABUL - Economic cooperation needs to be put ahead of geopolitical rivalries in the South Asian region, an Afghan foreign ministry official said on Wednesday.
Addressing the 10th South Asia Conference "Strengthening Connectivity in South Asia" in New Delhi, the director-general of policy and strategy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said,
Ashraf Haidari said his country had seen an improvement in hard and soft connectivity and, despite having meagre resources, had taken much of the security responsibility from NATO forces.
"Over the past two years, violence has risen, which has led to an increase in defence spending instead of development. " the diplomat said; calling for putting economic cooperation ahead of geopolitical rivalries in the region.
There were opportunities for increased connectivity that needed to be exploited, he said, listing three key issues for Afghanistan that need to be added to the agenda of SCO -- connectivity, counter-terrorism and counter-narcotics.
Abdul Qadeer Mutfi, a member of the Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies, says the war-torn country has the potential to be a land-linked country. "Afghan trade is strongly affected by regional political complications.
“Afghan trade is dependent on limited means of export. The development of Chabahar port will bring tremendous benefits to underdeveloped areas, he hoped. Chabahar is not an anti CPEC port, Mutfi explained.
Chabahar would reduce the dependence of Indi-Afghan trade on Pakistan and provide India with access to Central Asia, he believed, saying Afghanistan would gain politically sustainable connectivity, as well as access to road networks. (Pajhwok)