Canberra - Australia’s Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull together with the lawmakers stood stood in silence as a mark of respect for victims during a session of Parliament attended by Afghan Ambassador to Australia Wahidullah Waissi.

The Prime MInister told to the Parliament that he telephoned Afghan President Ashraf Ghani “to restate Australia’s resolve to assist and support Afghanistan in its fight against Islamist terrorism.”

Prime Minister said Thursday that the deadly truck explosion that killed 90 people had occurred less than one kilometer (less than a mile) from the Australian Embassy, which he had visited five weeks ago, and had left staff “very shaken." Australia announced this week it will send an additional 30 military advisers to train Afghan troops and expected other countries to increase their contributions to the restive Central Asian country.

THE HON. MALCOLM TURNBULL MP

PRIME MINISTER TRANSCRIPT

Thursday, 1 June 2017

Statement on Indulgence: Afghanistan Terrorist Attack

Parliament House, Canberra

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I seek indulgence to make a statement on yesterday's shocking attack in central Kabul.

Mr Speaker, this latest attack follows a fortnight where we have seen the evil scourge of Islamist terrorism continue to exact its murderous campaign against civilians around the world.

From the bombing of the arena in Manchester and the slaughter of innocent children, to a suicide attack in Jakarta, the ISIL insurgency in the southern Philippines to the slaughter of Coptic Christians in Egypt - we continue to see these indiscriminate brutal attacks committed by the terrorists.

Mr Speaker, according to the latest information provided by the Afghan authorities, the death toll stands currently at 89 and may rise further. At least 350 people were injured in the blast. Almost all of those affected were civilians. Many of whom women and children.

This shocking attack comes in the holy month of Ramadan.

We know that all Australians condemn the actions of those responsible and I have written today to President Ghani to express our deepest sympathies and to restate Australia's resolve to assist and support Afghanistan in its fight against Islamist terrorism.

I acknowledge also, as you have, Mr Speaker, the presence in the House of the Ambassador of Afghanistan, His Excellency Mr Wahidullah Waissi.

Your Excellency, we extend our condolences through you to the people of Afghanistan and in particular to those directly affected and their love ones.

Mr Speaker, yesterday's attack took place on a Wazir Akbar Khan Road - less than a kilometre from the Australian Embassy.

This is an area I visited just 5 weeks ago where I paid tribute to and met the brave men and women of our Australian Defence Force, who are training, advising and assisting the Afghan National Defence and Security Forces, as part of the NATO-led Resolute Support Mission.

I know that many members of this House and this Parliament will have been familiar with this district when they visited Afghanistan.

I can advise the House that all staff of our Embassy have been confirmed safe, although, as honourable members would understands, they are very shaken by these events.

We do not believe, at this stage, that any Australians were killed or injured in the attack.

But this serves as a sober reminder of the dangers faced by those who represent our nation abroad.

We are the second largest non-NATO troop contributing nation, in operation, in Resolute Support, and the overall second largest financial contributor to the sustainment of the Afghan security sector.

Now we know from bitter experience that allowing safe havens for terrorists undermines our safety at home and abroad.

Just yesterday, we mourned the tragic death of the 12-year-old Melbourne girl, Zynab Al Harbiya, killed in another terrorist attack in Baghdad, while visiting her sick grandfather.

The first priority of my government is to keep Australians safe and that is why we have made a long-term commitment to support Afghanistan's security and stability.

Earlier this week, the government announced an increase in our deployment and our support for NATO's train, advise and assist mission in Afghanistan with a number of our ADF personnel rising to around 300.

As honourable members are aware, the largest single element of our deployment to Afghanistan is providing training, and the necessary force protection at the Afghan National Army Officer Academy, which I have visited, very recently, and I know that other honourable members have done too.

They're doing vital work in ensuring that the Afghan security forces have the capabilities and the training to defend themselves, and to suppress and defeat the terrorists.

Now, yesterday's bombing only reinforces our commitment to this important mission, and to continuing to support the Afghan National Defence and Security Forces as they continue to build that capability that is essential for Afghanistan to fight and defeat terrorism at its source.

Now the aim of the terrorist, Mr Speaker, is to instil fear and divide communities and cause them to turn - communities to turn on each other.

Our message is very clear- our objective is to ensure that terrorists in the battlefield are targeted and killed. And we have changed the law, my government, with the support of the opposition, have changed the law to ensure that the ADF can target terrorists in the field, whatever they are doing. Whatever they are doing.

Our objective is to destroy them in the battlefield, and anyone with the intent to do us harm at home will be identified, monitored, disrupted, arrested and face the full extent of the law.

Australians will never bow to terror.

[ENDS]

Remarks by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan H.E. Salahuddin Rabbani at Tashkent Conference on Peace Process, Security Cooperation, and Regional Connectivity
Tashkent – Uzbekistan
March 27, 2018

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ

The Honorable Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov, Distinguished Heads of Delegation, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

At the outset, I would like to join H.E. President Ghani in extending our sincere gratitude to the Government and brotherly nation of Uzbekistan for hosting us all today. 

The exceptionally warm welcome we have received in the beautiful city of Tashkent is a manifestation of Uzbek traditional hospitality and Uzbekistan’s firm commitment to stabilization of Afghanistan through regional security and economic cooperation. 

I particularly want to thank my counterpart and brother, Foreign Minister Kamilov, for co-moderating with me this session, as well as for his efforts throughout this productive Conference. And we are grateful to all heads of delegation and your colleagues for your continued, active participation in this and other peace forums under the Kabul Process for Peace and Security Cooperation. 
Ladies and Gentlemen, 

A month ago, the Government of Afghanistan had the honor of hosting you for the second meeting of the Kabul Process—where President Ghani announced our unprecedented peace offer to the armed opposition, including the Taliban. 

As I said in that meeting, our comprehensive peace offer speaks to the demand and desire of every Afghan for an immediate, lasting end to years of imposed conflicts on our suffering people. 

Sadly, I must recall the heinous terrorist attack on Nowruz, the first day of New Year, in Kabul. The attack killed and maimed over 50 innocent Afghans, as they were celebrating Nowruz, a cultural symbol of peace, hope, and rebirth in my country. 

We appreciate strong international solidarity with the Afghan people, condemning this and other terrorist attacks in Afghanistan. 
Despite these crimes against humanity, we will not give up our peace efforts. 

Our national dialogue for peace will continue to ensure that every Afghan voice in our diverse society is heard and included in our search for a just peace, as we seek to engage in direct, results-driven negotiations with any reconcilable elements of the armed opposition. 

Ladies and Gentlemen, 

We welcome with appreciation the broad and strong international endorsement and support of our peace-offer to those Taliban, who renounce violence and terror. 

This Tashkent Conference is a manifestation of regional and international support for the Afghan-owned and Afghan-led peace process, as we collectively renew our shared call on the Taliban to take advantage of an unprecedented opportunity to cease violence against their own people and to opt for direct peace talks with the Government of Afghanistan.  

For these peace-making efforts to bear fruit, however, they should be supported by the international community in general and our neighbors in particular, in ways that help ensure our unity of purpose towards the success of the Kabul Process. 

Of course, this process wouldn’t yield the results we collectively need to achieve, unless our partners in the region and beyond support our repeated call to engage with us in a comprehensive state-to-state dialogue, which would help address both sides’ legitimate concerns.

Moreover, to reinforce our common peace efforts, I wish to recall the specific proposals we set forth in the last Kabul Process meeting to adopt and implement a regional counter-terrorism (CT) and counter-narcotics (CN) strategy. In addition, I renew our request to hold a regional conference to agree on a regional CT and CN strategy to complement our peace efforts. 

Ladies and Gentlemen, Thank you again. I look forward to a productive discussion in this session. 

Afghanistan started its campaign in the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2018 to find its way to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. Afghanistan missed out on automatic qualification due to its inability to be in the top eight on the ICC ODI team ranking. Ten teams entered into this competition with only the finalists of the tournament could quality for the two available world cup spots. Afghanistan and the West Indies were the favourites to secure world cup entries alongside Zimbabwe, which had the advantages of the home ground and the crowd. 

Afghanistan made a disappointing start to the tournament. Afghanistan was placed in group B with Zimbabwe, Scotland, Nepal and Hong Kong. The first match was lost to Scotland by seven wickets. Before the Blue Tigers could recover from the first defeat, they lost to Zimbabwe in their second but a tight encounter by only two runs. The biggest upset of the tournament occurred when Hong Kong defeated Afghanistan in their third match by a relatively large margin of 30 runs. With the third defeat in a row, not only the hopes for Afghanistan to qualify for the 2019 world cup looked shaky but its qualification for the second round of the tournament i.e. the super six was more dependent on other teams performances. The win of Nepal over Hong Kong allowed Afghanistan to play in the super six.

Afghanistan had a greater challenge of demonstrating its full potential and be luckier in the super-six stage to play in the final of the tournament. Since Afghanistan has not carried any points from first round to the second round, it looked unlikely for the Blue Tigers to become one of the finalists. Afghanistan not only had to win all its remaining matches but the result of some other encounters had to go in favour of Afghanistan too. The team did its part with defeating West Indies by 3 wickets, and UAE and Ireland by 5 wickets each. However, it was UAE who made the second upset of the tournament by beating Zimbabwe and allowed Afghanistan the opportunity to qualify for the world cup. 

In the final match, Afghanistan beat the tournament’s hot favourite, the West Indies, comprehensively by 7 wickets and 56 balls to spare. Indeed, it was not less than a miracle for Afghanistan winning the title of the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2018, after three early defeats in the tournament. Afghanistan team proved that at the end of the day commitment, dedication and self-belief pay off and make the difference. We hope that Afghanistan has learned a lot of lessons from this tournament and will perform better in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 in England.  

Afghan Ambassador, HE Wahidullah Waissi, and the Embassy team in Canberra, celebrated 21st of March 2018, as the first day of Nawroz 1397 and hosted more than 200 visitors from the diplomatic corps, the ACT government, Australian public departments including DFAT, academia, civil society, military, students and local Afghans.  

Ambassador Waissi welcomed the participants and together with the embassy team, gave a tour of events and activities organized on first day of New Year 1397. The activities were including Afghan carpet exhibition, kite flying, servicing Haft Mewa, Saffron tea, Kulcha-i Nawrozi, Jelabi, Samanak, egg fighting, exhibition of Afghan traditional outfits, and exhibition of Afghan artist Khadim Ali paintings.

Nowroz was officially recognised by the United Nations in 2010, and inscribed on the Representative List of the intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity as a festival promoting peace and prosperity. Celebrated across the world by Afghan, Iranian and Kurdish communities and diaspora, Nowroz unites people of different countries and speaking various languages in great festivity each year.

Canberra - Deputy Foreign Minister, HE Hekmat Khalil Karzai, participated in a ceremony held to establish Afghan-Australian Parliamentary Friends Group in the Australian Parliament, where he officially inaugurated it on 8 December 2017.

During his speech in the Australian Parliament, Mr. Karzai called the establishment of this Group at the Parliament of Australia a positive and valuable step for deepened friendship between the two countries and further cooperation in the international affairs. He also thanked the group members for creating such a platform.

The Head of this Group in the Australian Parliament Mr. Anthony Wallace who is representing the Liberal Party said that the establishment of the Group plays an important role in extending relations between the two countries and can pave the way for cooperation with the people and government of Afghanistan. More than 20 Australian parliamentarians from different parties have registered their names in this Group.

While appreciating Australia’s participation in fighting terrorism and internationally supporting Afghanistan, Mr. Karzai said that Afghanistan would not forget Australia’s political, military, and development support. Moreover, he emphasized that the people of Afghanistan have been victims of terrorism and violence while it is yet to be done with terrorism. Therefore, Afghanistan and Australia still have a long way in fighting terrorism.

In this program, members of Afghan-Australian Parliamentary Friends Group called this initiative a positive step on creating political consensus, exchanging required information, and sound partnership between the two countries. Each member of the Group has travelled to Afghanistan more than once.

Asia 21 alumni annual summit in Melbourne this year included Afghanistan's Ambassador to Australia HE Wahidullah Waissi (2011). He was the first speaker of the event who took the stage and presented his story of “How to build a nation through Diplomacy” in the context of “World Disrupted, Asia’s Future”. The speech was delivered on 29 November 2017 in Melbourne. This is the narrative of his remarks:

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The world power’s traditional foreign policy thinking were mainly explained around ‘three Ds’: Diplomacy, Defense and Development aid. Based on today’s complex pillars of relationship and interdependency the ‘forth D’, Diversity, would define any types of affairs among nations. It includes diversified policies from market and business to cultural and people to people contact, to development and security cooperation.

In today’s disrupted world, a foreign policy without considering ‘Diversity’ in its relationship cannot be the right answer anymore. As Allan Gyngell puts this rightly in place, “it is no longer physics; it is an ecology” that explains interdependency and diversity of relations. A diversified foreign policy would give us the best possible choice to utilize our human and natural resources wisely through a meaningful diplomacy.

The evolving of geopolitical interests surrounding Asia assumes that it would make our efforts complex. It includes the countries with land-locked borders such as Afghanistan, the small countries such as Singapore, the countries with oceanic boundaries such as Australia, and many more other nations with many other geopolitical characteristics. However, these are “more mental rather than physical”.

Since it’s shaping with the new boundaries in 1700s to a couple of years ago, there was a belief that the North Afghanistan would never be connected to the European market. There was a myth of ‘going to nowhere land’ while speaking of doing business outside of Afghanistan through its Northern border. The geopolitical interest, market demand and natural resources were always in place but the power of diplomatic efforts made it possible to draw a new transport and transit corridor from Afghanistan all the way to European gates through Turkmenistan, Caspian, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Black Sea and Turkey. Geographic boundaries are not an issue anymore [referring to the Lapis Lazuli Transit & Transport Corridor signed recently in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan]

“These developments will not arise of itself or hope for the best. It comes through an active, attentive and responsive diplomacy”. Our future always depends to how we perform today. It is a normal phenomenon. But the future with more predictable results comes through agile diplomatic efforts.

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About the Asia 21 & its Afghanistan chapter:

• A decade ago, Asia Society built a network of young leaders (under the age of 40) across the Asia-Pacific as a way to promote mutual understanding and effective collaboration among the next generation’s most important and influential leaders.
• More than 800 powerful alumni from more than 30 countries are representing the Asia 21 Young Leaders Initiative, which stands as the Asia-Pacific’s foremost young leaders network.
• Asia Society has established the Afghanistan 21 Young Leaders Initiative (AYLI) in 2011. More than 40 Afghan women and men have been enrolled since 2011.
• Only 9 Afghan AYLI alumni managed to participate at the 2017 Asia 21 Young Leaders Summit held in Melbourne from 29 Nov. to 2 Dec. 2017.

Excellecies, distinguished participants, ladies and gentlemen,

Let me begin by sincerely congratulating you, in particular, the female audience in this auspicious gathering on the great occasion of International Women’s Day.

At the outset, I would like to extend my appreciation to the Bakhtar Cultural Association in Melbourne for making this great opportunity available for women and men to jointly celebrate this important day.

Women’s struggle for freedom and justice indeed has a long history. But what we learn from celebrating this day is that the achievements towards women’s rights, gender equality and women empowerment would have not been possible without sacrifices and continued struggles.

Fortunately, nowadays, all the states continue their efforts for the promotion and protection of women and girls’ rights in accordance with their international obligations. However, since the recent decades, the emergence of none-state actors such as Al-Qaida, Taliban, Boku Haram, ISIS, etc. posed major threats to international peace and security as well as women’s rights and freedom.

For the Afghan people, women and girls in particular, who have suffered from many years of war, unrest and violence, the 8th of March is a significant and meaningful milestone. Today we need to review our achievements and challenges in the path towards women empowerment and gender equality.

Ladies and gentlemen,

According to the recent data of Central Statistics Office in Afghanistan, the percentage of girls’ enrolment to schools in Afghanistan is about 39.9%. In terms of political participation, more than 25% of Members of the Parliament are women. 4 out of 25 ministers, 11 deputy ministers and 4 ambassadors are also women. The number of women in Afghan police in 2017 compare to 2016 increased by 9.6 % and at the National Army it was increased by 29.6 % which is quiet significant.

The First Lady of Afghanistan has a key role in promoting women empowerment in the country. Women’s participation in cultural and art related activities are also promising. Just last week, Mrs. Roya Sadat, an Afghan female move maker received the alternative Oscar award for her 90 minutes film titled: ”A letter to the President”.

In terms of economic empowerment, women are the backbone of the major Afghan products such as Saffron and the handicrafts, particularly in Afghan carpet industry.

However, women’s participation in judicial and legal sectors in Afghanistan is not satisfactory and much needs to be done in this respect. But in terms of legal framework and reforms we see lots of progress.

Afghanistan is member of almost all international conventions, aiming for the protection and promotion of women’s rights, inter allia CEDAW. The Women Action Plan on Peace and Security is a clear milestone for promotion and protection of women rights as well as their active participation in peace negotiations. Last year, the adoption of Law on prohibition of female and child torture was a remarkable achievement in terms of setting the legal foundations for protection of women and girls’ rights.

Distinguished participants,

Despite the significant achievements which I mentioned some of them, unfortunately as a result of insecurity, low level of public awareness and illiteracy in remote areas, the number of cases of violation of women and girls’ rights are high. These violations are in the form of field trails, forced and child marriage and family violence.

The government of Afghanistan with the assistance of its international friends including Australia that is among the top ten major development partners to Afghanistan is committed to fulfilling its state responsibility and international obligations for the betterment of women and girls situation in terms of education, employment and representation in political, economic and social life.

On 28 of February, during the 2nd Kabul Process Meeting, President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani proposed a comprehensive Peace Plan to the Taliban insurgents without any preconditions. Women were actively participated on the discussions about this plan. There is particular emphasis on safeguarding the rights and obligations of Afghan people, especially of women which are guaranteed by Afghan constitution in the peace plan. The representatives of women and civil society will be introduced for peace negotiations.

We very much hope that this comprehensive peace proposal will pave the grounds towards peace and security in Afghanistan so that the Afghan people, men and women have the opportunity to live in peace together with other peace loving nations.

Thank you

Afghanistan's rising power Under 19 cricket team played for the ICC World Cup in New Zealand in Junary 2018. The Afghan U19 champions displayed a tremendous performance against Pakistan in the opening match of the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup in Whangarei, New Zealand. Afghan Ambassador to Australian and New Zealand, H.E. Wahidullah Waissi, was also attending the first match Afgahnistan vs Pakistan in Whangarie city of North New Zealand on 13 January 2018 in support of the Afghan team.

In this match, Pakistan lost all its wickets in 48 overs and made 188 runs. Rahel Nazari played well for Pakistan and made 81 runs. From Afghanistan side, Azamatullah and Qais Ahmad each got three wickets from Pakistan. The Afghan U-19 national cricket team faced Sri Lanka on 17 January as their second match of the World Cup. 

Afghanistan Under 19 knock out World Cup hosts New Zealand with shock win on 25 January 2018. Afghanistan, coached by former Black Caps coach Andy Moles, won the toss and elected to bat first, which looked a great decision when they notched 310-6 off their 50 overs. They had four players contribute between 66 and 69 runs each.

Afghanistan had also made an impression in the 2016 World Cup where they won the plate final. The National Cricket Team Leg-spinner Rashid Khan was one of the key members of that squad and is now one of the leading spinners of the world in ODIs and T20Is.

The 11th edition of the Under-19 World Cup was played across seven venues in four cities - Whangarei, Tauranga, Christchurch and Queenstown - over 22 days. This is the third time the tournament is being held in New Zealand, after 2002 and 2010. 

Sydney - The Afghan community of New South Wales inaugrated a coordination Council for the Afghan communities and associations living in Sydney and other major cities of NSW. Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Mr. Wahidullah Waissi also participated and made a keynote address to the participants. 

The main purpose of the Council is to establish greater and unified source of contact for the Australian authorities, coordination of Afghan affairs in New South Wales, and easily handling of Afghan-Australian social and cultural affairs. Ambassador Waissi, while appreciating the initiative, whichhas been discussed since eight months, has defined this as a main point of reference and civic engagement among Afghans. Mr. Weissi promised that theembassy will facilitate its social and cultural activities through this newly established Council in future. 

Other eight speakers, who are heads of communities and representing them at the Council, also spoke and encouraged their unity under the umbrella of the Council for the good of soicial and cultural affairs.

Mr. Paul Lynch, a member of the New South Wales State Parliament, also made his remarks and welcomed this joint initiative.