Afghanistan president Ashraf Ghani, in his address, at the Heart of Assia conference said, "Our children have been killed, our hospitals attacked, and terrorism has now become a regional, national and global phenomenon."

"Al-Qaeda, Daesh, terrorists from Russia, Uzbekistan, the Middle East and beyond; are all present on our soil," he said. Ghani said Afghanistan is ready to accept the groups which lay down arms and join the political process. "Finalisation of border management standard operating procedures will be helpful in containing the movement of terrorists across the border," he said.


On his part, Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif said the "scourge of terrorism that has been plaguing our region for many years requires a firm and coordinated response on the part of all of us."

"We are convinced that terrorism and extremism is the common enemy of Pakistan and Afghanistan. We need a collective approach to combat this menace," he said.

He also said that the massive cross-border movement of refugees constitutes "a security risk" and is exploited by the miscreants for their nefarious designs.

"Moreover, the emergence of newer and more threatening terrorist groups like Daesh (Islamic State) should strengthen our resolve against terrorism," Sharif said. On the stalled Afghan reconciliation process, Sharif reiterated Pakistan's "commitment" to facilitate the process.


"In this regard, Pakistan is ready to extend support to a meaningful process, wherein both the Afghan Government and the Taliban can move forward, in a spirit of accommodation and reconciliation," he said.

"We believe that the association of China and the US in the reconciliation process has been instrumental in moving the process forward," Sharif said.


Pakistan's Foreign Office said that officials from 14 participating states, 17 supporting countries and 12 international and regional organisations are attending the conference, including foreign minister of 10 nations.


The Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process was launched in 2011 and include Pakistan, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and the United Arab Emirates. The two-day conference began on yesterday with the meeting of senior officials of the participating nations. The ministerial meeting today will adopt Islamabad declaration.