Afghanistan and New Zealand: Diplomatic relations from two sides of the globe

In September 2017, His Excellency Wahidullah Waissi, presented his credentials as a Non-Resident Ambassador to the Governor-General of New Zealand, the Rt Hon Dame Patsy Reddy GNZM, QSO. Waissi is the fifth non-resident Afghan ambassador for New Zealand. His credentials were presented in a special ceremony held in Wellington on 7th of September, at the Government House.

Diplomatic relations between the two countries began in 2003, and later New Zealand sent a resident ambassador to Afghanistan; in return Afghanistan had a non-resident ambassador to New Zealand, acting from the Afghan Embassy in Australia. This article focuses on such diplomatic links which exist between the two friendly nations, despite being geographically situated in very different parts of the world. In doing so, this also covers New Zealand’s various assistance projects in Afghanistan, the significance of its immigrant community and experiences in the region, as well as perceptions of and dedication to future risks.  

Since 2001, after the fall of the Taliban regime following decades of war, Afghanistan has gained widespread international support and historic opportunities to relieve the effects of international isolation, as well as to rebuild its institutions and economic infrastructure – both sectors which were rendered almost non-existent following decades of external interference and ensuing internal violence.  

The support of the international community in the face of these pressing concerns came in the forms of direct aid and political assistance. The United States of America, European Union, Middle Eastern states and Asian countries, such as India, provided tremendous help to Afghanistan in its efforts to recover itself as a self-sufficient and stable state. Due to the lengthy list of contributing countries to the Coalition for assistance, many Afghans may only be familiar with the names of a few of its prominent members – so it is important to highlight that Pacific countries, most notably Australia and New Zealand, were also an integral part of the coalition assisting Afghanistan.  

New Zealand participated in the NATO-led ‘War on Terror’ and sent three military transport planes to Afghanistan, and contributed in other forms as well – such as reconstruction efforts. An example of this is the stationing of a Provincial Reconstruction Team in Bamyan province, active in reconstruction activities from 2003 to 2013. Overall, New Zealand has continued to provide much needed aid, which has been focused on areas such as better governance and agricultural development.  

In the years since 2001, New Zealand has contributed over USD $30 million to Afghanistan, and promised further commitments of USD $10 million during the Brussels conference, which will go towards training Afghan security forces and is essential for the future stability of the country’s security structures. While New Zealand has withdrawn its combat troops from Afghanistan, a small number of its military trainers are still present in Afghanistan. In fact, since 2013, eight New Zealand military officials have been training Afghan forces at he Kabul Military Academy, and in 2016 the New Zealand government renewed their commitment to continue this important and valuable mission.

To this end, when NATO urged its member states and allies to increase their troop contribution to Afghanistan, New Zealand responded positively and indicated an increase to its military trainers to 13. The New Zealand Prime Minister described the increase of these forces as a key element of the country's role in combating terrorism in the international arena. 

New Zealand has consistently placed emphasis on combating terrorism and has pursued partnerships in support of Afghanistan's defence forces and their training. In 2015, New Zealand acted as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council and played a key role in fostering international support for Afghanistan, including supporting Afghan diplomacy before the United Nations and its member states. While New Zealand may be far away from Afghanistan, it is a key nations in assisting it pursue its goals of better governance and the flourishing of democracy and human rights. 

Relative to its population, Afghanistan is the country of origin of the largest number of immigrants worldwide, and nearly 15,000 of these currently reside in New Zealand. Many of these Afghans act as sources of financial support for family members remaining in Afghanistan, and in this way the Afghan diaspora has become a key sector of their country’s economic capital. On the basis of this, Afghan communities living overseas should be considered one of the main pillars of Afghanistan's foreign relations. In this era of globalization, the phenomenon of diaspora communities carries not only this economic dimension, but is also an important factor in the cultural development of host countries – particularly through their interactions with notions of democracy and rights discourse in the developed world. 

 Meanwhile, a large proportion of Afghan refugees residing in North America, Europe and Pacific countries have proven to play a decisive role not only in hinderng international isolation, but also in promoting the cultural democratization of Afghanistan. This is tied to the Afghan government’s ability to foster a profound and meaningful relationship with national goals and cultural progress in its foreign and economic policy, and thus the thousands of Afghan refugees in New Zealand can be defined as an important factor in relations between the two countries. 

New Zealand is a country which espouses attributes of good governance, transparency and sound social welfare. The new non-resident ambassador of Afghanistan, speaking at the headquarters of the Governor General of New Zealand, highlighted the further improvement of relationships between the two countries, particularly in the fields of agriculture and livestock development, foreign trade management, export growth, vocational education and public sector management – as well as effective use of technology to assist industry. 

To illustrate this, New Zealand's current population of 4.5 million has made use of smart agricultural technology to produce and export food equivalent to the needs of 80 million people overseas. In fact, New Zealand exports 90% of its manufactured products abroad. This figure of export is one the highest in the developed world, and has marked New Zealand out a leading country in social welfare, investment and growth management – and has contributed to the experiences and lessons which can be learnt from it. 

Following the drop in international support since 2014, while the War on Terror was intensifying and the country's economic situation was worsening, one of the main pillars of Afghanistan's foreign policy has come be regaining long-term international support. In the Asia Pacific region, Australia and New Zealand are two main allies of the United States and NATO, and the deepening and expanding of ties with these countries is essential for the future of Afghanistan.  

In particular, New Zealand and Australia in the Asia-Pacific region have a significant influence on Muslim countries in the Southeast Asian region, i.e. Indonesia and Malaysia, and such influence can help Afghanistan in expanding its relationship with the aforementioned countries in the region. This is especially important given the passive role played by Southeast Asian countries in the international fight against terrorism, while instability in the region will always affect the security and economy of New Zealand and Australia. Therefore, stability of the region can be regarded as a common point in the relationship between Afghanistan and countries in the Oceania region – and this makes the role of the Afghan embassy in the region highly significant.  

This article was published in 8 am Newspaper in Kabul in a local language. Thanks to the Afghan Association of New Zealand team for translating this article to English.