Reg: No 352 Volume No. 3455 Sunday December 04, 2016 Qaws 14, 1395 www.outlookafghanistan.net Price: 15/-Afs

Quote of the Day

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www.thedailyafghanistan.com

Some cause happiness wherever they go; others

whenever they go. Oscar Wilde

Mohammad Amin Karim

KABUL - Hezb-i-Islami Af-ghanistan (HIA)’s peace delegation head Eng. Mo-hammad Amin Karim on Sat-urday hoped 400 HIA-linked prisoners would be released in a week from Pul-i-Charkhi and Bagram jails.In article 11th of the peace agreement between the gov-ernment and HIA, the gov-

KABUL - President Ashraf Ghani and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will discuss greater defence and trade co-operation during their meet-ing at the weekend, a news-paper reported on Saturday.Faced with cross-border ter-ror threats, Afghanistan and

NEW DELHI - The Ministeri-al Conference on Afghanistan called ‘Heart of Asia’ opened in the presence of visiting For-eign Minister Mohammad Ja-vad Zarif in Amritsar, Indian Punjab, on Saturday.Heart of Asia conference is expected to see attendance of leaders from around 30 coun-tries including US, Russia, China and Iran. The theme will be connectivity and in-creasing security in and around the Afghan region.The discussions will revolve primarily on peace, coopera-tion and economic growth in Afghanistan and neighboring

Ghani and Trump Discuss Terrorism

400 HIA Prisoners to be Released in a Week

Ghani-Modi Meeting: Defence, Trade Links on Agenda

‘Heart of Asia’ Conference on Afghanistan Opens in India ernment has promised to

release HIA affiliates impris-oned for their political and military activities and no lawsuit has been filed against them.The peace pact was inked on September 29 by President Ashraf Ghani and HIA leader Gulbadin Hikmatyar.The ...(More on P4)...(2)

India would join hands at the Heart of Asia Conference in Amritsar to mount pressure on Pakistan,Ghani and Modi will inau-gurate the event on Sunday. Ministers from Pakistan, Iran, Russia and China will be in ...(More on P4)...(3)

regions. India is the co-chair and host this time and Af-ghanistan is the permanent chair of the conference.Arrived in New Delhi on Saturday morning, Zarif is slated to deliver a speech in the ‘Heart of Asia’ conference on Dec 4. Zarif is to outline Iran’s poli-cies on promotion of peace and stability in heart of Asia especially in Afghanistan during his speech in the con-ference. He is also to hold talks with ranking Indian officials and attend an eco-political meet-ing in ...(More on P4)...(1)

New Commissioners to Step up Electoral

Reforms ProcessKABUL - Gula Jan Abdul Badi Sayyad, sec-retary and spokesman of the Independent Election Commission (IEC) on Saturday said the new commissioners will soon start work on bringing about fundamental electoral re-forms.He said the head of the IEC also has to pre-sent a list of IEC secretariat candidates to President Ashraf Ghani.“We will form three committees and every committee will do its own work. Advertising the position of IEC secretariat candidates is the primary work that should be done,” he said.The IEC’s new head has to work on the list of voters and on ...(More on P4)...(3)

AMRITSAR - India and Afghanistan are likely to announce an air cargo service on Saturday to help increase trade that both say is stymied be-cause of their tense political rela-tions with Pakistan that lies between them.President Ashraf Ghani and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi were meeting in Amritsar for the Heart of Asia conference aimed at stabilising Afghanistan.Officials say the focus of the air cargo service is to improve land-locked Afghanistan’s connectivity to key markets abroad and boost the growth ...(More on P4)...(6)

WASHINGTON - The commander of US and NATO troops in Afghan-istan has expressed concern about a “malign influence” of Pakistan, Russia and Iran on Afghanistan.In an interaction with reporters here on Friday, Gen. John Nichol-son, also voiced deep apprehen-sions about terrorist safe havens in Pakistan and the stability of Af-ghanistan going forward.“In addition to improving the cor-ruption and leadership situation, we are concerned about the stabil-ity of the ...(More on P4)...(5)

KABUL - The Afghan gov-ernment says U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and Af-ghan President Ashraf Ghani have emphasized their joint commitment to fighting ter-rorism in a phone conversa-tion.Ghani’s office said in a state-ment Saturday that Ghani congratulated Trump on his victory and expressed hopes for further cooperation be-tween the countries under Trump’s administration.The statement said that Gha-

ni pointed out dedication of Afghan security forces in de-fending Afghan territorial in-tegrity and expressed admira-

tion for the sacrifices of U.S. and NATO troops in the fight against terrorism in Afghani-stan. (AP)

Malign Influence of Pakistan,

Russia in Afghanistan Worries US

India, Afghanistan Plan Air Cargo Link