Mohammad Esmaeil Qassemyar, the then president of Afghanistan’s emergency Loya Jirga after the Bonn meetings told the Strategic Council on Foreign Relations that it is important for Afghanistan’s neighbors to play a role and make convergence in this regard.

“Definitely, our neighbors particularly Iran and Pakistan can cooperate and converge and play a more effective role in order to maintain peace and stability in Afghanistan because otherwise, problems of Afghanistan would have ramifications on its neighbors.”

He described as positive and constructive the history of stances by Iran and Pakistan to help resolve the problems of Afghanistan and make efforts to converge, adding that “fortunately, so far, the Taliban have emphasized that they are different from the Taliban in the past and consider the requirements of the time and think about future and want to develop Afghanistan and improve welfare for the people. Therefore, with such attitude, it seems that countries neighboring Afghanistan have a greater chance for establishing constructive channels of negotiations and continuation of talks.”

This Afghan political activist said, “we hope that the Taliban continue these stances and have a positive impact on domestic and foreign issues.”

Qassemyar stressed “definitely, the emergence and real representation of a change in the Taliban approach would be the formation of a plural and inclusive government in Afghanistan and all relevant parties in that country should be present in that. We received such a promise in Doha and both parties agreed to form a joint government.”

Former international affairs advisor in Afghanistan’s Supreme Council of Peace considered as necessary and constructive cooperation and convergence among the countries of the region in this path and said it seems that conditions are proper in Afghanistan and we and the people are hopeful that conditions would improve.

The head of Afghanistan’s emergency Loya Jirga after the Bonn meetings referred to the positions and performance of some neighboring countries of Afghanistan in recent months and added that we share the same destiny without neighbors and cooperation and attention to peace and stability in the region are necessary in this respect. However, definitely, these two countries play an important role in the region and if they implement positive measures in cooperation with countries such as Iran, India and Pakistan, it will be welcomed.

Qassemyar emphasized the necessity of attention of neighboring countries to elements of destruction of cooperation between countries and Afghanistan such as foreign interference, saying “foreign interference especially by the US in Afghanistan has made our situation worse in the past two decades. The less the inferences, the more it will be in favor of peace and stability in our country. The presence of the US with long-term goals they pursue in our country can impose damage to our relations with our friends.”

He added “we hope that the US and other trans-regional countries leave us to create peace and stability in our region and maintain our brotherly relations with good neighborliness. Such interference is to our disadvantage and against our cooperation. We welcome real humanitarian assistance but their interference should stop.”

This Afghan political activist emphasized that the strategic policy of Western countries and the United States is to create insecurity and instability in Afghanistan, saying that Afghanistan has geopolitical situation and abundant resources and wealth which make them greedy. Considering their goals, the countries of the region should cooperate with each other and have more convergence.

Qassemyar said even the Taliban are emphasizing that they are different from the Taliban of the past and have touched the realities and seen the facts.

“We should always consider how foreign movements play a role in our region. As Benazir Bhutto, the former Pakistani prime minister said openly and in the media that Pakistan was not alone in building the Taliban and Saudi Arabia, the UK and US played a role in their formation and support.”

Expressing hope that real changes are made in the approach and performance of Taliban concerning domestic issues and foreign relations especially with the neighboring countries, he said Afghanistan’s neighbor should support the creating of an inclusive government with consultation and convergence. They can play a more effective role in this respect and inclusive justice would be to the benefit of peace and stability of the region.

Qassemyar described as important financial assistance to Afghanistan under such circumstances and explained that “unfortunately, in some cases, the improper economic situation of the people causes them to seek help from the others. Therefore, the help provided from within is more constructive than from strangers.”

The president of Afghanistan’s emergency Loya Jirga after the Bonn meetings referred to the role of international and regional organizations such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and said the SCO in this respect can play a more active role and we have a lot of communications and similarities with them.

“Afghanistan is under conditions that it needs the financial support of the region. We hope that soon Afghanistan would also be able to help the countries of the region.”