Russia and Afghanistan – We Should Be More than Military Partners

Russia is among few prominent players in the Central Asia due to the creation of EEU. However, not all countries in the region are involved in integrational processes. Afghanistan remains one of the key counties with solid capacity for regional development but the country has been struggling with many internal and external difficulties, mainly security threats, for decades now. This prevents Afghanistan from participating in many regional initiatives. On June, 16, 2016 RIAC hosted a meeting with Afghan Deputy Foreign Minister Hekmat Khalil Karzai, who shared his views on the Afghanistan’s future and stressed that Russia should be more involved in regional development.

Russia is among few prominent players in the Central Asia due to the creation of EEU. However, not all countries in the region are involved in integrational processes. Afghanistan remains one of the key counties with solid capacity for regional development but the country has been struggling with many internal and external difficulties, mainly security threats, for decades now. This prevents Afghanistan from participating in many regional initiatives. Far from being a success story, Afghanistan nonetheless holds great potential and, when the internal political stability is secured, will present many cooperation opportunities for its neighbors and those interested in investing in regional trade and infrastructure projects. On June, 16, 2016 RIAC hosted a meeting with Afghan Deputy Foreign Minister Hekmat Khalil Karzai, who shared his views on the Afghanistan’s future and stressed that Russia should be more involved in regional development.

How do you see the future development of your country? In 10 years, what will be the driving forces of economic development in Afghanistan?

For us what it is significant is that we see future not in terrorism, not in counterterrorism, but in regional and international economy. We want to regain our status of a regional and international trade hub. So for Afghanistan there are many different objectives. First, we would like to see Afghanistan connect Central Asia to South Asia, South Asia to the Middle Asia. Afghanistanshould become a bridge between Central Asia and East Asia in many aspects. Unfortunately, Afghanistanis mired in so much internal violence and this prevents the country from moving forward in developing trade and energy. We are focused on countering terrorism and fighting evil forces that tear the country apart.

RIAC visited by Deputy Foreign Minister
of Afghanistan

Right now Asia is the center of different integrational blueprints. China is pushing forward the Silk Road project; Russia is building the Eurasian Economic Union. Do you see Afghanistan in participating in any of these groups?

Absolutely. Many of these groups and countries have developed different projects.If you look at the history of Afghanistan, we have always been part of various integrational groupings in Asia, whether it’s Silk Road or others.Without Afghanistanit’s very unlikely that these projects will succeed. We want to be a part of the regional integrational processesthat bring countries together.

What are the most promising spheres for bilateral cooperation between Russia and Afghanistan?

We feel that Russia is a significant partner in the region. We want to make sure that we’re able to work with Russia in all possible spheres. Right now Russia-Afghanistanrelations are mostly focused on the military domain. But still we would like to make sure that we go from military to economic area. We would like to see Russian companies come to Afghanistan and invest, resume work on the projects launched a couple decades ago.

Interviewed by Maria Gurova, RIAC Programme Coordinator