KABUL - President Ashraf Ghani on Sunday stressed the need for a national consensus on establishing peace in the country, saying the Afghans should get prepared for a countrywide conversation.
Introducing Mohammad Karim Khalili as the High Peace Council (HPC) chief in Kabul, the president said the whole nation hoped peace would turn into a reality from a wish.
However, he said a permanent peace could not be established until a strong government took charge of the country.
“Controversies would continue in the country until we ensure the safety of every Afghan and treat every citizen equally according to the law, creating a strong government would develop national trust,” he said.
“So the peace process cannot continue behind closed doors and needs to be converted into a national consensus in order everyone is able to calculate the price of war and benefits of peace,” Ghani said.
The president said peace could not be made with a person but with people. The war in Afghanistan was ongoing from the past 40 years and has become a routine and a habit of Afghans while some individuals who benefitted from the situation were against peace, he said.
“The way of war has changed and we are under attack from different networks, not a single suicide attack took place during the holy jihad era of Afghanistan, 1.5 million of Afghans were killed and wounded but there was no suicide attack, we did not produce this phenomenon but this was produced by others to us, the first suicide bombing took place in Sari Lanka and it turned into an evil circle,” he said.
“People from 20 countries, which whom we have no dispute have come here and are engaged in the war and narcotics. Criminal economy is one of the main factors of war, to know why this war continues needs a fundamental analysis,” he said.
The president said another factor of the war was regional. “We have repeatedly said and I once again say it that we do not want peace from Pakistan but we want peace with Pakistan.”
Pointing to the peace agreement with Hizb-i-Islami Afghanistan (HIA), he said it was a good model for others to follow because it was done in line with the constitution and inside the country.
“The return of Hekmatyar proved that Kabul belongs to all of us and Afghanistan is our shared home,” Ghani said.
Ghani also thanked Afghan security and defense forces and said some people believed the Afghan government would collapse within four months after withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan, but the Afghans had a strong will for the defense of their country.
He said all the Afghans should think about development of their country and contribute to a stable peace in the country.
Pointing to Mohammad Karim Khalili’s appointment as HPC chief, he said that Khalili had many abilities and he would be able to put effective steps for bringing peace to the country. (Pajhwok)