Unity govt off to good start, says US envoy

WASHINGTON (Pajhwok): The national unity government, led by President, Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, has got off to a good start, but an enormous amount of work had to be done, a top American diplomat said on Monday.

“What we have seen over the last three weeks since inauguration is very compelling and demonstrates that even in these early days,” Special Representative for Afghanistan Daniel F. Feldman said.

Speaking a welcome reception hosted by the State Department for a group of Afghan diplomats, he said President Ghani and CEO Dr Abdullah were taking the actions necessary to demonstrate their will to deliver the services the Afghans needed.

He was joined by Chinese Embassy Minister Wu Xi and Afghan Charge d’Affaires Mirwais Samadi. This is for the third consecutive year the US and China have partnered to train the Afghan diplomatic corps on communications and management skills. 

Although a lot of work had to be done, the new administration had started on a fast pace in exactly the manner the world would have hoped for, demonstrating both Ghani and Abdullah campaigned on their commitment to an inclusive, broad-based and representative government, the envoy remarked.

He added the recent actions taken by the Ahmadzai government were necessary steps for Afghanistan to take, he noted. “So we are off to a good start, but there is an enormous amount of work to be done.”

This year’s group includes 15 early-career diplomats, who were selected jointly by representatives from the US and Chinese Embassies in Kabul. In May, the participants attended a two-week training programme in Beijing.

While in Washington, the group will learn more about US policies regarding Afghanistan and China, as well as the process of formulating and implementing foreign policy in the United States.

Chinese Embassy Minister Wu Xi said this year was of great importance to Afghanistan as its celebrated 95^th anniversary of its independence. “It is remarkable to see how much Afghanistan has achieved in the last couple of years in terms of political reconciliation and economic reconstruction,” she observed.

China would continue to support the peaceful reconciliation process, help Afghanistan establish peace and stability, Wu promised, announcing that that at the end of the month China would host the fourth foreign ministers’ meeting as part of the Istanbul Process.

Samadi said a peaceful and democratic Afghanistan was not only in the interest of its people but also of the United States and China. “Today, Afghanistan, China and the US remain victims of terrorism and extremism.”

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