Karzai Speaks Out About Worsening Ties Between Nations

Former President Hamid Karzai raised his concerns over what he says was worsening relations between countries active in the region, which was not the case when he was in power, he said.

Karzai made the remarks during the second edition of the Raisina Dialogue 2017 in India’s capital New Delhi on Tuesday.

According to Karzai, relations between the big powers in Afghanistan were quite warm when he was in office, but now these relations are deteriorating and major powers active in the region are not cooperating with each other.

According to Karzai, there was a thaw in the relations between world powers in Afghanistan when he was serving as president. But now the ties between these countries are deteriorating.

“I told President (Vladimir) Putin that I have worries about Afghanistan, the way the United States and the western allies are conducting the war on terror is not leading us to decrease extremism in our region or in Afghanistan, in fact we see rising extremism in Afghanistan in spite of the massive sacrifices and loss of resources,” said Karzai.

The dialogue was also addressed by the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi where he advocated neighbor Pakistan should walk away from terrorism if it wants peace with India.

Modi said that Pakistan will move towards further international isolation as long as it sponsors terrorism and exports terror to neighbors.

“Pakistan must walk away from terror if it wants to walk towards dialogue with India,” said Modi.

Meanwhile, Karzai said Afghanistan has witnessed a multipolar world over the past fifteen years.

On his Russia policy, Karzai said that he lodged complaints against the United States with Putin on several occasions. But added that world powers were engaged in friendly relations during the years he was in office.

“This is what we desire from the whole world and this is what we had in Afghanistan from 2002 till recent times. Do we have the same today in Afghanistan, unfortunately no. Is it disappearing, yes it is,” Karzai added.

In addition, Modi reiterated his country’s longstanding cooperation with Afghanistan.

“The completion of Afghanistan’s parliament building and the India-Afghanistan friendship dam are examples of our dedication to forge development and partnership,” Modi added.

Karzai’s remarks over ties between foreign nations come a few weeks after Russian officials criticized the U.S for its military bases in Afghanistan and confirmed that it had contact with Taliban, calling the group a political force.