Mohammad Kazem Sajjadpour expressed the views at a one-day international conference on “Perspectives on the Evolving Situation in Afghanistan” organized by the Centre for Afghanistan, Middle East & Africa (CAMEA) at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI) in collaboration with the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) on Monday.
Terming Afghanistan as the most complex society in the world he gave three points namely A (Actorship), B (Balance and Management) and C (Compass and Cooperation) while discussing the situation of Afghanistan.
He said that Afghanistan has defied everyone during its history, adding that everybody thought simple about Afghanistan, but they defeated three empires; namely the UK, Soviet Union and the US.
Sajjadpour went on to say that Afghanistan is a very crowded place of actors, too many actors have been involved in different categories like global actors, regional actors and local actors.
“It means that hegemony is impossible be it global, be it regional or be it local,” he noted.
He added that nobody can dominate Afghanistan.
The diplomat said even Taliban are also diverse they have their own dynamism and one thinking cannot be hegemonic in that group.
“So the conclusion is that no actor can be ignored,” said the analyst.
Explaining his second point ‘Balance and Management’,0 Sajjadpour said international occupation lasted on Afghanistan for past four decades, but sill we don’t see any balance in Afghanistan which is needed. “We have to help not to dictate Afghan people but to bring balance in the country,” he said.
The diplomat noted political balance is very important for Afghanistan.
He said that humanitarian issue is a very serious problem in Afghanistan and we have to manage it.
Former Deputy Foreign Minister added that security of Afghanistan is important not only for the country but for the entire region. The expert noted the presence of Daesh in Afghanistan is a real challenge. Some countries are using Daesh even against Pakistan.
Talking on his third point ‘Compass and Cooperation’ he said exclusion and hegemony should be rejected. “Nobody can be ignored and this is the hard lesson which we have learnt from history,” he noted.
Kazem Sajjadpour expressing his views said bilateralism is very important, Iran has always tried to have working relationship with Taliban and we have done a lot to minimize issues. “We have been hosting Afghan refugees and Iran has done a fantastic job on the issue of Afghanistan,” he said.
“While the world is ignoring Afghanistan Iran is paying attention to Afghanistan,” said the diplomat. He said Iran has never closed its borders with Afghanistan.
He said despite all American sanctions Iran is doing a lot for Afghanistan.
The diplomat strongly believed regional cooperation is a key to create consensus on Afghanistan. We must cooperate on immigration, humanitarian crisis and refugee issue on Afghanistan.
He said the IPIS is ready for more interaction with Pakistani think tanks on Afghanistan.
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