Afghan President Ashraf Ghani accused Pakistan Sunday of waging an \u201cundeclared war\u201d and said Taliban insurgents battling his government would not last a month without sanctuary in the neighboring state.
\nGhani also urged Pakistan to spend around $500 million pledged in aid for Afghanistan to tackle extremism instead.
\n\u201cDespite our intense engagement with Pakistan on bilateral and multilateral basis, the undeclared war… not only has not abated but also intensified during 2016 with special intensity,\u201d Ghani said.
\n\u201cOne of the key figures in the Taliban movement recently said if they didn\u2019t have a sanctuary in Pakistan, they wouldn\u2019t last a month,\u201d he added.
\nThe Taliban were toppled from power by a US-led invasion in 2001 and have battled the Kabul government and its foreign allies since then.
\nAfghan officials accuse Pakistan of supporting the Taliban and continuing to provide sanctuaries on its soil in hopes of maintaining influence in Afghanistan.
\nThe Afghan leader was speaking at the sixth ministerial conference of the Heart of Asia \u2014 Istanbul Process, a dialogue on ways to encourage security, political and economic cooperation among Afghanistan and its neighbors.
\nDelegations from more than a dozen countries including Pakistan, China, Russia, Turkey and Iran attended the conference in the northern Indian city of Amritsar on Sunday.
\nThey discussed challenges to the long-term growth and stability of the war-torn country.
\nIndia, the fifth largest bilateral donor to Afghanistan, has been a key supporter of Kabul\u2019s government and has poured more than $2 billon into the country since the Taliban were toppled.
\nIndian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday promised his country\u2019s support for peace while also indirectly criticizing Pakistan\u2019s role in the region.
\n\u201cTerrorism and externally-induced instability pose the gravest threat to Afghanistan\u2019s peace, stability and prosperity,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cIt (support for peace) must be backed by resolute action. Not just against forces of terrorism, but also against those who support, shelter, train and finance them,\u201d Modi added, hinting at Pakistan.
\nBoth the Indian and Afghan leaders in recent months have vocally blamed Pakistan for its support for groups and individuals behind attacks in their countries.
\nPakistan \u2014 the historic backer of the Taliban \u2014 has long been accused of supporting the insurgents in Afghanistan, especially with attacks on Indian targets in the country.
\nLast December Modi inaugurated Afghanistan\u2019s new parliament complex in Kabul, built by India at an estimated cost of $90 million.
\nA few days after his visit militants launched a 25-hour gun and bomb siege near the Indian consulate in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif.
\nAnd in March Taliban militants fired a barrage of rockets at the parliament complex.
\nIn an earlier bilateral meeting Modi and Ghani discussed a range of issues including improved connectivity, trade, investment and terrorism.
\nGhani, in his address on Sunday, said they had reached agreement on an air cargo corridor between the two countries.
\nThe strained ties between India and Pakistan have impeded any progress on land transport links between India and Afghanistan.
\nThe two countries also recently signed a three-way transit agreement with Iran to develop the southern Iranian port of Chabahar.
\nThe deal, bypassing Pakistan to connect Iran, India and Afghanistan to Central Asia, is expected to boost economic growth in the region.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani accused Pakistan Sunday of waging an \u201cundeclared war\u201d and said Taliban insurgents battling his<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1890,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[318],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-2"],"yoast_head":"\n