Nurturing terrorism by a State counter-productive to region:

In a veiled reference to Pakistan, Afghan Deputy Foreign Minister Hekmat Khalil Karzai today said the "nurturing" of terrorism by "a State" is counter- productive not only to itself but for the region as a whole.
Flagging the challenges posed by terrorism and extremism, he said, "We also see the problem of a State nurturing terrorism, which obviously is not only counter-productive for them but for the region as a whole."
Karzai began his media interaction at the 6th conference of Heart of Asia in Hindi with words of praise for Amritsar and India, besides Indo-Afghan ties.
He described the conference as "extremely useful", and said it was significant for several reasons.

Amritsar presented a corridor of transport and trade, and Afghanistan would like to act as a bridge connecting South Asia with Central Asia, and Central Asia to the Middle East, he said.
Karzai was making the joint Amritsar declaration with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley after the end of the two-day ministerial conference.

"We had excellent deliberations at the conference," he said, adding that challenges and opportunities were aplenty in the region.
"We face similar problems. We face similar opportunities," he said, adding that Afghanistan would continue exploring opportunities in the region in future as well.
Expressing gratitude to India for its support, he stressed that relations between the two nations would continue to stay strong.

He said Afghanistan was a land bridge connecting the region particularly with India and had much to offer in trade and commerce. Afghanistan was rich in minerals and energy resources, he said.
"We send goods to India, but there are difficulties," he added.
During the conference discussions took place on issue of water, building dams besides providing vocational and skill training, he said.