Heart of Asia conference held in Amritsar recently, saw terrorism as one of the main focus area, with both, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani seeking to corner Islamabad over the issue. However, Modi refrained himself and took a back seat, letting Ghani do most of the talking.
Scathing in his criticism of the south Asian neighbour, Ghani named Pakistan and accused it of providing sanctuary and support to terror networks. Recalling a recent statement by a diplomat under the Taliban regime, Ghani said if the Taliban did not have sanctuary in Pakistan, they would not even last for a month. "Pakistan has generously pledged $500 million for reconstruction of Afghanistan. This fund, Aziz, could very well be used for containing extremism because without peace, any amount of assistance will not meet the needs of our people," Ghani directly addressed Pakistan PM's adviser on foreign affairs, Sartaj Aziz.
Modi remained subtle, not naming Pak but stating that terrorism and externally induced instability posed the gravest threat to Afghanistan's peace, stability and prosperity. He called for resolute action against those who sheltered and financed terrorists. He said the growing arc of terrorist violence endangered the entire region and, as such, support for voices of peace in Afghanistan alone were not enough. "It must be backed by resolute action. Not just against forces of terrorism, but also against those who support, shelter, train and finance them." He added that silence and inaction not just in Afghan, but the entire region would only embolden terrorists and their masters.
Both, Modi and Ghani also held a bilateral meet ahead of the conference, in which they reviewed the progress on recent decisions to deepen bilateral economic cooperation and strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries.
The Heart of Asia declaration named terror outfits Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad as destabilising forces in the region. "We remain concerned by the gravity of the security situation in Afghanistan... and the high level of violence caused by the Taliban, terrorist groups including ISIL/Daesh and its affiliates, the Haqqani network, Al Qaeda, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, East Turkistan Islamic Movement, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, TTP, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, Jundullah, and other foreign terrorist fighters," the declaration read.
An informal conversation between NSA Ajit Doval and Pakistan's Aziz turned out to be the highlight of the conference, even as the government categorically denied that there was any "bilateral meeting". Terrorism was at the core of discussions at the conference, which seeks to promote peace in Afghanistan and was attended by representatives of over 40 countries. Indian authorities brushed aside as insignificant a photograph which showed Doval and Aziz together, saying the two had merely walked together for "100 feet" after the dinner for delegates late on Saturday night. Doval was seen talking animatedly with Aziz in the photograph. Pakistani high commissioner Abdul Basit too denied any meeting between Doval and Aziz.
