KABUL: Afghan President Ashraf Ghani confirmed on Monday that he would travel to Pakistan for a regional conference on Afghanistan, in a sign of fresh efforts to reduce tension between the two neighboring countries.
The Heart of Asia conference in Islamabad, previously held in Turkey, Kazakhstan and China, is seen as a chance to lay the basis for a resumption of an Afghan peace process broken off in July, although Afghan officials caution that obstacles remain.
“This is not Pakistan’s conference, this is Afghanistan’s conference,” Ghani, who had not previously confirmed his attendance, told reporters at a news conference in Kabul.
Referring to recent reports that Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour had died in a gunfight with other Taliban commanders, a development likely to further complicate any fresh peace talks, Ghani said there was no evidence to prove he had been killed.
Afghanistan has long harbored deep suspicion of Pakistan, accusing it of sponsoring the Taliban insurgency in what Ghani has referred to as a 14-year long “undeclared war” between the two countries.
Under pressure from his ally the United States, Ghani has stepped up efforts to improve relations, although they received a setback when peace talks with the Taliban, facilitated by Pakistan, broke down in July.
“Peace must be made between Afghanistan and Pakistan. The relations of two states are not relations between two youngsters — to be friends for an hour and then don’t talk to each the next hour,” Ghani said.
Speaking in Kabul on Sunday, newly appointed US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Olson, urged the two countries to work together.
“We appreciate the outreach that President Ghani has undertaken since becoming president to improve relations with Pakistan,” he said.
“We have always encouraged the best possible relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan, especially in the context of an Afghan-owned, Afghan-led reconciliation process.”
Pakistan is suspicious of the influence of its old rival India in Afghanistan. Afghan officials suspect Pakistan sees the Taliban as a tool for keeping Afghanistan in turmoil and preventing India from consolidating a presence there.
Afghan President Ghani to attend talks in Pakistan
Afghan President Ghani to attend talks in Pakistan
Canada PM Carney says can’t rule out military participation in Iran war
- Carney had said the US-Israeli strikes on Iran were “inconsistent with international law”
- However, he supports the efforts to stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon
CANBERRA, Australia: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Thursday that he couldn’t rule out his country’s military participation in the escalating war in the Middle East.
Carney’s visit to Australia this week has been overshadowed by expanding war in the Middle East, sparked by a massive US-Israeli strike on Iran that killed its supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Speaking alongside local counterpart Anthony Albanese in Canberra, Carney was asked whether there was a situation in which Canada would get involved.
“One can never categorically rule out participation,” he said, while stressing the question was a “hypothetical” one.
“We will stand by our allies,” said Carney, adding that “we will always defend Canadians.”
Carney had said the US-Israeli strikes on Iran were “inconsistent with international law.”
However, he supports the efforts to stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon — a position that Canada takes “with regret” as it represented “another example of the failure of the international order.”
The Canadian leader reiterated on Thursday his call for a “de-escalation” of the conflict.
Carney’s trip is part of a multi-country tour of the Asia-Pacific aimed at reducing reliance on the United States — a hedge against what he has described as a fading US-led global order.
The Australia leg of the tour is aimed at bringing in investment and deepening ties with a like-minded “middle power” partner.
‘Middle power’ rallying cry
On Thursday morning he issued a rallying cry in Australia’s parliament to “middle powers,” urging them to work together in an increasingly hegemonic world order.
Nations like Australia and Canada faced a stark choice — work together to help write the “new rules” of the global order or have great powers do it for them, he said.
“In this brave new world, middle powers cannot simply build higher walls and retreat behind them. We must work together,” he said.
“Great powers can compel, but compulsion comes with costs, both reputational and financial,” the former central banker added.
“Middle powers like Australia and Canada hold this rare convening power because others know we mean what we say and we will match our values with our actions.”
The Canadian leader also said the two countries would together as “strategic collaborators” to pool their vast combined rare earth mineral resources.
And he detailed renewed cooperation in areas from defense to artificial intelligence.
“We know we must work with others who share our values to build solid capabilities,” he told parliament.
Otherwise, he warned, they risked being “caught between the hyperscalers and the hegemons.”
The Canadian leader has frequently clashed with US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly threatened to annex Canada and slapped swingeing tariffs on the country.
In a speech to political and financial elites at the World Economic Forum in January, Carney warned the US?led global system of governance was enduring “a rupture.”
