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‘US must cooperate with China, Russia, India on fighting terror’
June 6, 2015, 8:15 am

The former Afghan President has often criticised the conduct of the NATO forces in the country’s crisis [Xinhua]

The former Afghan President has often criticised the conduct of the NATO forces in the country’s crisis [Xinhua]

Former Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai has said if Washington is sincere about fighting terrorism, it must cooperate with China, India and Russia.

“If it is sincere in the war on terror, then it should begin to be concerned with the countries in the region, especially the big countries of the region — China, India and Russia — and see it as a threat to all and begin a true international and regional cooperation,” Karzai said Thursday in an interview to US radio broadcaster VOA.

The former Afghan President has often criticised the conduct of the NATO forces in the country’s crisis.

The US must focus more on the “Afghan people and the development of Afghanistan”, “on the economic upliftment of Afghanistan and less and less on military means in Afghanistan”, Karzai added.

The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing in the eastern city of Jalalabad in Afghanistan in April.

This is reportedly the first major attack in Afghanistan by insurgents aligning themselves with the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL).

The Afghan leader also said ISIL was formed “because of foreign interference on a very massive scale in Iraq and Syria”.

“If Daesh ever grows in Afghanistan this means somebody from outside of Afghanistan is trying to create these forces in order to harm China, Russia and Central Asia,” said Karzai on Thursday.

ISIL is known as Daesh throughout the Arab world.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has reached out to China to add clout to the fragile peace process as well as to invest in the Afghan economy.

Afghanistan is an observer state at the Russia-China-led Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

China, Russia and four Central Asian nations – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan – formed the SCO in 2001 as a regional security bloc to fight terror threats and drug trafficking from neighbouring Afghanistan.

Cooperation between China and Russia on Afghanistan has been growing since 2013 and could become a major factor for Afghan leadership following a US withdrawal.

 

 

TBP