INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Former president Hamid Karzai said this week that despite the tumultuous past year, Afghans are &happier& that there is no longer a
large-scale war being waged in their country.He said the conflict, which caused loss of Afghan lives on both sides, was &fortunately over&
but that Afghanistan is facing &immense difficulties&.In an interview with India Today, to coincide with the one year anniversary of the
take over by the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) Karzai said &Afghanistan is facing immense difficulties& economically
He said this was compounded by the loss of skilled Afghans who migrated.Karzai said however, that the ruling IEA was still a way off from
winning the trust of the international community in terms of being recognized as the new government.He said that many of the IEA leaders
agree &with an Afghanistan that&s inclusive, with an Afghanistan that has girls going to school, and an Afghanistan that is working hard
towards well-being and a better economy.With regard to recognition by the international community it is based on two fundamental conditions
One is the fulfilling of the needs of the Afghan people, the education of girls is one such issue, and then inclusivity is another such
issue,& he said.Once this is fulfilled and the Afghan people see that the country is moving in the direction that&s in the interests of the
people, and the country of course, automatically the question of international recognition will be resolved.Karzai also emphasized that
''the people of Afghanistan have been victims of terrorism for a long long time,& adding that he feels with certainty that the people of
Afghanistan &are the greatest victims of terrorism and extremism.Unfortunately at the same time, the Afghan people are also victims of the
fight against terrorism; so we have suffered both from terrorism and from the consequences of the fight against terrorism,& he said.He also
stated that Afghans do not want terrorists in their country, whether it be groups or individuals, but at the same time Afghans do not want
their sovereignty violated in the name of the fight against terrorism.Regarding the US&s claims that it killed the al-Qaeda leader
al-Zawahiri in a drone strike in Kabul last month, Karzai pointed out that the IEA said at the time that it was not aware of his presence in
the country but that they would carry out an investigation into the claims and incident.Emphasizing the dire economic situation, exacerbated
by the mass migration of skilled workers, Karzai said: &One of the greatest losses of our country in the past one year has been the leaving
of our educated and capable people from our own country; the loss of this educated part of the Afghan population is an immense irreparable
loss and our effort is exactly this to have an Afghanistan where all the Afghan people can come back, where all the Afghan people can be
working in and participating in, where all the Afghan people find their country to be belonging to all of us; this is our effort and this
has to succeed for the well- being of all including for the current government.He said it is up to the current government, the IEA, to make
sure that those Afghans return and that they find place in their own country and respect in their own country
and an environment where they
can work and grow and prosper together with all the Afghan people.The Taliban (IEA) and all other Afghans belong to this country and we need
to work together for a better Afghanistan; that is imperative for us to be independent, strong and growing,& he said.On Afghan-Indian
relations, he called on New Delhi to reopen its embassy in Kabul &in full strength& and to allow Afghan students to return to India for
study purposes.Karzai said he was confident the IEA would do its best to provide security to the Indian embassy should it reopen in Kabul.He
also stated that he wants Afghanistan ''to be a place of cooperation between our neighbors and big powers,& adding that Afghanistan&s
relations with India are historic and go back centuries&.In conclusion he said: &I have hopes for Afghanistan; very very good hopes for
This country will be fine, this country will do well; I&m also hopeful that things will change for the better in Afghanistan.Definitely
there is a need for certain changes in the policies of the current government, the issue of girls going to school is extremely important;
that must change, and those schools must reopen immediately; and inclusivity and so many other issues that have to be addressed, that we are
working on.But on the whole, he said Afghanistan is a very old country and that temporary setbacks and difficulties &will not stop it from
the long march towards a better future.The post Karzai says despite the onset of ‘peace&, Afghanistan is facing immense hardships first
