Former Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai speaks during HT Summit in New Delhi.
Former Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai speaks to NDTV's Barkha Dutt during HT Leadership Summit, 2014 in New Delhi.
Here are the highlights:- Very happy to be in India once again
- Challenges that India and Afghanistan face are not of our heritage and values - it is to remove human suffering
- Afghanistan like India is an ancient country with a rich heritage and proud history
- Afghanistan has been a cross-roads between continents and connected people throughout history
- Today Afghanistan has transformed from a stateless geography to a pluralistic state
- Afghanistan suffered from invasions, foreign interferences, extremism that inflicted massive suffering on our country and society
- A generation of forward-looking young Afghans have emerged and thanks a great deal to India having helped us in this regard
- We have an independent and very vibrant media, you'll be surprised
- Afghanistan today is the home of all Afghans
- Terrorism remains a serious challenge not only to Afghanistan but the whole region
- Afghanistan like India is a country of panchayats - we call them 'jirgas'
- We will continue to follow a peace process that will allow the Taliban to come back to their own country
- My stance against certain elements of US and NATO presence was principled
- Afghanistan wishes to have an enduring partnership with US and our western partners
- Security on prosperity depends primarily on the region becoming free of radicalism and terrorism - must address the sources from which forces of terrorism draw their sustenance
- India has participated in every aspect of rebuilding our country
- India has been a valued partner in nation-building in Afghanistan
- I thank the Prime Minister of India, PM Modi for his continued commitment to Afghanistan and its people
- Afghanistan will not allow proxy war between India and Pakistan on its soil - and I'm sure India won't do that
- India will be there to educate our children, build dams, not to wage a proxy war against Pakistan - so I'll give a reassurance to Musharraf that he did not worry.
- Pakistan is a very close neighbor of Afghanistan - we have tremendous connectivity, people-to people relations - we're almost like twins..
- We will engage with Pakistan as a sovereign, independent state conducting our own foreign policy and that will not be compromised
- The Afghan people would love to be friends with America - but as equals. One very poor and one very rich but that should not reduce the dignity.
- US should have gone to the sanctuaries of terrorism, not Afghanistan
- I stood up against the U.S. because I wanted them to correct their behaviour with Afghanistan
- I told President Obama they should not be running with the hare and hunting with the hound
Hamid Karzai on relations with India:
- Don't need Indian boots on the ground - as a matter of fact don't need any boots on the ground.
- India is well situated to train our officers, civil services and fulfill Afghanistan's need of military equipment
- India, as any old civilization is, a cautious country - I believe there is more that could be don
- I'm a former president. I have a lot more freedom today but not free to say everything or anything