when ambassador holbrooke offered me a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to serve as deputies to become a special representative myself. now that i am transitioning back to acknowledge the challenges that are made. i was incredulous recently what diplomacy is achieved in afghanistan? that demonstrated the need to highlight the significant developments in the region that was sustained to the diplomatic efforts it was the diplomacy that

facilitated and nurtured the government it was diplomacy with our relationship on pakistan more now than any other point of the administration that opened a historic opportunity for afghanistan and pakistan to work together for a common interest in peace and diplomacy has supported afghan determination to fundamentally change the role in their society it was diplomacy that secure the international political and financial support of security forces. only through a sustained diplomacy that success will be preserved. they don't just spontaneously generated i am extremely proud to be a charter member of the

innovative and entrepreneurial team created by the vision of secretary clinton and ambassador holbrooke commitments to the region and power of diplomacy to to the achievements to have a government prototype to respond to a complex crisis and every day is dedicated team has honor his memory with his definition of diplomacy to save lives and achieving results you know, the list of a momentous achievement of afghanistan to improve the role of women and girls and independent media, infrastructure, gdp growth. afghanistan simply is not the country it was when the taliban ruled.

political stability of afghan security just wind year-ago the prospects were removed with the options and included the karzai term after the afghan request he famous a broker the political compromise of the government lie was left behind to the the mediation to hammer out a political agreement to form a unity government becoming the first democratic transition of power in afghanistan history polishing governments grappled with the implementation and afghanistan is no different there has been progress over

the past year from the consumption initiative to the electoral reform commission that we met with last week. but the government to achieve the reform it must operate in a more inclusive manner to include in powering ministries to assume much of the work to engage comprehensively with a full range of civil society and opinion leaders domestic media and in all to believe the afghan people. those who feel excluded paved the way for spoilers to create unnecessary instability that is why i urge my colleagues to take the last best opportunity to demonstrate the government is durable and functional to translate their rhetoric and

policy vision into tangible policy implementation to benefit the daily lives of all afghans. sole support the unity government to be sure it is on the path to success. it is a legitimate government that the international community will continue to support afghans don't support -- don't deserve to anything other than strengthens the fabric of their society. to optimize success of those ongoing efforts the economic climate must whether the shock and the security challenges are severe as they kill many civilians with casualty's bill is anticipated to be a

difficult season to pose a real challenge but they have held their own while making temporary gains the taliban has not been seriously challenged any urban center or capital the have proven it was ready for their responsibility transferred to it and we will continue to support as they build the skills and resources they need to match the courage and commitment one final word on the progress of afghanistan we should be proud of the role we have played including the unprecedented civilian search it will always be difficult work with reports of waste with the least institutionalized countries

and to be clear anyone who is legally benefits must be held accountable. but despite the lower the of reportedly must continue to assess the overall impact of the efforts and not just focus son the easiest mechanical accounting of project execution team must redouble our efforts cannot fundamentally kill initiatives that our critical to achieving our interest to ensure that once again does not become a safe haven these are hard goals and an important one said there will be failures as refined his initiatives but the risk is worth taking

buying pakistan diplomats have been at the front diplomacy has broad the tumultuous relationship to the stable position based on a realistic set of expectations with our strategic dialogue we have honed in to keep the strategic alignment to deliver results including nuclear concerns to prompt stability energy initiatives and opportunities the evolving dynamic has problems to target al qaeda el leadership and with the threat of a the ied. there is a renewed effort to bring greater security throughout the country as demonstrated by the ambitious undertaking of the

operation just one year ago that has ben further accelerated in the aftermath of last december. the assistance is under great value to read balance from the previously disproportionate assistance and in particular of high visibility high impact signature project of economic growth and infrastructure development contributed to improve perceptions of the u.s. to showcase the potential of that relationship which if pakistan continues progress but despite the progress yet crucial relationships they still face challenges that

we can now discuss in a transparent manner we continue to have concerns of the pakistan history although we have seen concrete actions the military and civilian leadership must make good on their commitment to not differentiate between terrorist groups just as they have vigorously pursued the taliban they must take equal pay for small actions against the haqqani network that poses serious threats to lives and resources and that has the potential to destabilize the region i have heard many alleged that u.s. is ambivalent about pakistan but that is not further from the truth is

critical to pakistan future and i know it is also understood that both pakistan civilian and military leadership of his fellow state years since democracy was reinstated and in to a happier since then sends its own first historic transition of power and there continue to be challenges one year ago it was met by protest but today it appears that civilian and military leadership have come to preserve that centrality that it is critical to their future but diplomacy also gives new light to afghanistan and pakistan but to this -- receive great credit for these rapprochement with afghanistan in such a deliberate and strategic planner similarly be

approach -- appreciate the afghan lead and unknown to reconciliation process it is such a process that we strongly support without conditions that is the surest way to end violence with lasting stability in afghanistan and the region and it is clear there can be no long-term stability without pakistan's support and to take the unprecedented actions to facilitate the discussion resulting in a meeting on july 7th the first time that senior representatives openly and with permission from leadership met with the official representative afghan government delegation. needless to say the news has complicated the picture but i believe it may be the important opportunity they'd

think of themselves as the movement to end the civil war now have to decide if they continue to fight or to end the violence of the development with the political system of a sovereign united afghanistan concerted american diplomacy is a sustained engagement of the international community and the key nations of the region from the beginning one important mechanism is international contact group from over 50 countries including more than one-third from muslim majority countries and i am optimistic their regional powers have seen that supporting a stable afghanistan free of terrorism is in their interest. there is a marked and productive change of countries over the past six years. as one particular example we

welcome the engagement not as competitive the complementary to our own efforts and in 2009 beijing refused even have the words on the agenda but to date we have embarked on a series of projects to convene a discussion both the first of their kind the efforts with diplomatic endeavors such as through the heart of asia process and economic initiatives like energy connectivity. . .

the withdrawal of economic assistance really caused the need to be explaining to their region. one of the things i didn't fully

realize was when the pakistanis finally decided to move into it was something we wanted to do in 2011, they did it in 2014 they pushed a lot of extremists and terrorists. right at the point where the security transition to the afghan forces. at a time when the afghan were at least able to do with that problem. why is is it now that there suddenly violence in the north, but people went north and took an area that was quite calm and turned it into a battleground. secondly, if you talk to afghans they will tell you, that at that at the same time pakistan decided to engage in a reconciliation process, afghans believed they also double down on this season. both as a pledge against the

reconciliation and quite frankly and what they do to strengthen their hand against the taliban and negotiations. so this faces real challenges. there is an opportunity president connie reached out to pakistan in a way that caused a fair amount of criticism and afghanistan, but he said to the pakistanis he was prepared to take their interests into account, he was prepared to take steps against the pakistani taliban ban that are in afghanistan causing a problem. if they would take a lead and step up, produce the taliban and start a reconciliation process. if they believe that president connie is genuine in what he says, that he wants a new relationship, pakistanis also had some reasons to look at

reconciliation at this time. in december of last year a terrible attack, which killed over 100 young people at a military institution, was a wake-up call of the problem the pakistani taliban and the ptt has posed. i think they're beginning to understand that pakistan needs a stable afghanistan, that pakistan will have to deal with its own terrace problems. i think that has begun to have an impact on pakistani views and resulted in these talks. i i think the taliban and also may be deciding that time is not on their side but afghan security forces did not collect at the transition as many people as

they thought. they are stressed, but they are holding. the appearance of the islamic fate is a problem for the taliban and because it could wean away some of the supporters the pressure i think the pakistanis putting on them is real. the other thing is after-the-fact to your belated announcement that omar is dead has, has raised a lot of questions in in afghans and tele-bands of who are we fighting for over the last two years. the fact that pakistan is not upfront about the reconciliation process raise the question is taliban and aiding pakistan. that does not bode well. the taliban and had some reason to enter in this reconciliation process. now, it's certainly on certain

as to where things had from here. one interpretation is the discord with omar if in fact tele-band leadership and pakistanis take some skeletons out of the closet and setting the table for negotiation, let's hope that is the case. there is also a good chance some elements could come under the black flag of the islamic state. there is is a lot of uncertainty as to where this goes, despite a lot of skepticism most afghans say this reconciliation effort is worth pursuing. i very much think that it is. there is another thing we need to focus on diplomacy has done all the things that dan has described, but it is also the case that diplomacy has been backed up by security efforts by

the afghan security forces and the united states. it is military pressure that has sparked the tele-band to to the table, the taliban and themselves are using military force to enhance their negotiation. i would echo dan's point, we are at a moment when there is the possibility of reconciliation and peace in afghanistan, and we should give that effort are full diplomatic support, which is putting pressure on the pakistanis to produce an agreement and we should rally the international community to put pressure as well. this would also be a devastating time, secondly we need help to get their economic situation going, but it also would be a terrible time for us to withdraw

or suggest we are withdrawing support for the aft dance security forces. one of the things we of the united states, can do to advance the cause of peace is support the effort of the afghan cover meant diplomatically. we also need to make clear that we are continuing our support for the afghan security forces we will continue the training program that is currently going on, maybe even expanding it because of the increase of the threat the security forces face. a threat we didn't really understand when we design a transition in 2014 and thousand 14 and it fully appreciate when a decision was made to get our troops down to a thousand.

i think that decision needs to be reconsidered because as president connie would say afghanistan is now fighting terrorism from the middle east. it needs our support, and we really need to have a counterterrorism capability in afghanistan, with afghan forces to deal with this and keep them at bay so that we have the opportunity for negotiation with the tele- band and so this terrorists groups do not threaten afghans. so there is hope out there there is an opportunity for peace that will require the afghans to do what they had

talked about and it will also require us to do some things to show a commitment to this process. a commitment that that needs to last beyond 2016, if we do not do that i have no doubt that it will probably doom this opportunity for peace we have in front of us now. afghans are courageous people and they deserve our support. andrew. >> thank you steve, earlier earlier today i was reading a news report about the tele- band trying to form a unity, i actually thought there is no one better than feldman better than trying to form this unity in cabo. many of you in the room joined us for a public session in mid june, just after i returned from scott smith and i returned from a trip along with others we

proceeded others to impress the people in the room. there is a security system which is not going well in terms of casualty rate, and today we heard every port on civilian casualty rates, the economic situation is very grim. on the critical front there is little cause of optimism to move forward. many of those conditions still remain the same, they are still very real challenges, someone on our visit said let's flip a coin and all three times have to turn up heads to make this work. but we did come back more encouraged precisely because there is more prospects for peace process prospects getting on track. there is much uncertainty now

over omar's death, there's lots of skepticism, it's likely things won't work out but i think it's important not to be so skeptical about the prospect for peace that we miss the opportunity when it presents itself. i think now is a time when some of the afghans and afghan taliban and and the u.s. and the allies is a opportunity for us to seize. i wanted to say a little bit on the economic peace which we haven't focused on much. i am concerned that must that might be one of the single most biggest challenges on one hand they have to get their act together and start performing and move from process to producing, there has been progress and there has been quite a few appointments. the cabinet is pretty full, two

thirds of the governor appointments have taken place but there's still more that needs to be done on that front. on the economic situation, that's the largest situation beyond their control on one level we all intellectually new, but once the war and economy bubble popped it was very painful every meeting we had we heard accounts of this. including the last day we met with our team in cabo and they went around the room asking people about their thoughts and pointed to the economic situation, as well as people are looking for exit strategies. i think we should be getting consideration for some type of short-term stimulus package of some type so it's not the

economy that brings the economy down. we shouldn't let it be the economic crisis that brings him down, in the the short term some job creation seeking, may be idea for an urban solidarity program to help stimulate the economy, some land registration programs, there's ideas the government is working out which i think deserve consideration to buy some space for the government to figure it out. but it also would give time for the peace process to occur. at the same time they need to take their tough reform measures that can lead to change, i think the other thing i would point to his progress. there is this is a reform oriented government, unlike what what we had in the past, it would be a shame to be backing

away from supporting a government when they finally have the political will and want to push a reform agenda forward. and certainly we are noticing a big difference where we are actually moving our strategy from working mostly on the informal space to consciously finding reformers and government to partner with governments and were finding a dramatic change from a year or two ago in that regard. i will leave it at that, i will ask feldman and steve a couple of questions and open it up to the audience. i will start with you dan in terms of one of the things we heard very contradictory messages on in the region, most of the government actions we thought thought it

was a problem and appoint concern, but also pressure point with the taliban, many of the analyst spoke to didn't think it was a big concern someone said after 25 years the saudis have been trying to create a regime and kuhn are and have not succeeded. it's very contrary directory analysis of the presence i was wondering if you comment on that. >> sure were keeping a close eye on this, we are in the process of collecting as much accurate information as possible in assessing it. trying to determine how will influence our decision-making and what will have to continue to do on counterterrorism effort. it's been a concern given the fact that none of us were talking about this a year ago. there have been some leadership

issues recently but in afghanistan but given the dialogue has been between the tele- band but it's unclear whether they're trying to up recruit others or if it's opportunistic, we don't know the threat that it would cause to the afghan state or the international community down the road. to steve's point, i won't step on decisions that our president is still going to be making over the coming weeks and months. clearly, we have taken a number of opportunities to demonstrate there is flexibility in terms of how are we are operationalizing,

whether it's the extension of the authority or with bridging, or when president donna was here in march so i circumstances continue to be evaluated and on counterterrorism and how afghanistan fits into that global approach. i would it's a concern in pakistan, pakistan leadership is should be focused on potential growth, so yet again i think this is in the interest and so i hope they can move forward on in terms of collaborating and determine a at least a

coordinated response, if not a joint response. this ultimately goes to reconciliation issues of other potential opportunities that, because there really can be no long-term stability in afghanistan and the war that can be done to bridge afghanistan and pakistan whether it's on the trade stein or people to people contact or cross order military issues, intelligence and certainly the more trust that can be built in the more we help to nurture and facilitate this environment, when the time is right for reconciliation discussion that it can happen. >> i just want to say one thing, if the president decides as i hope you do, to leave a robust presence there in order to

advance the peace process and continued support for the afghan military, support for the training assistance, and a robust counterterrorism presence, it may be that totals up to 5000 or 6000 people there will be a lot of people, and a lot of them will be republicans that will say see we told you you are wrong to say that you would come down to 1000 troops you are wrong, we are right. i would hope. i would hope that that reaction as predictable as it may be will not stop the president. that's not how i would be sanded to the president. i would say you had a series of policies, you made a lot of tough decisions and those tough decisions worked. you got a political transition you gave this government a

chance, but the situation has changed. the middle east has melted down, the state system is an collapse and it is giving a boost to existing terror groups like al qaeda and the situation in afghanistan for a lot of reasons i've described is very different. so mr. pres., you need to be flexible to adapt our policy to the new situation the negative things have happened but also capitalize on the opportunity for reconciliation. that's how i i hope the president will see it. this is not a result of the failure of the policy but the success of his policy. i hope he is willing to do that because one of the other things that will do is it will enhance the

chances of peace, it will also mean that his successor, whoever that he or she will be in 2017 will not be faced with the crisis in afghanistan when they walk in the oval office. >> a follow-up question for you, we ended our trip in india and of course it face quite a big role in afghanistan as well i was wondering if you would reflect a bit on what we are hearing regards to the situation afghanistan. >> i'll be brief one of the things i didn't realize until we went to india and it's a good in advertisement you have to go to all three countries or you won't see the whole story. one one of the other problems and delicate challenges is on one hand the president needs to send a message to the pakistanis that afghanistan is not going to be hostile to pakistan and is not

going to be a a satellite of india. on the other hand, at the same time he needs to send a message to india that afghanistan is not going to outsource its foreign policy to pakistan, it's not going to be under the satellite of pakistan either. he is going to have to exquisitely balanced that relationship, he needs both countries. he needs pakistan to deal with the tele- band problems and he needs india to help with the economic problems. so there are few presidents in the world today that have this set of challenges in front of them that the afghan he president does. but i wouldn't bet against him. >> and this is a question you don't want to get, another omar question, in particular it's a

moving story daily on how it's going to on bold and the impact it will have, but taking a step back and why do you think we got to this point in terms of the peace process, we didn't have much movement for a long time and also maybe speak more about the regional actors and china were trying to get this on track, we also want to hear other things. >> with omar the honest fact is that everything at this point is speculative, we just don't know enough, were waiting to see what emerges. one thing i say is that there certain factions that are pro- peace or anti- peace, there's

some that have mages be involved in leadership power. clearly the tele-band have their own interagency disagreements, and were seen how that plays out and much of that may be tempting, the only person involved in the u.s. and the i will not play the hat trick of inserting myself in that process as well. we don't know enough to offer that assessment but we will see what happens. i returned a few days before you and the last official i saw was in pakistan and they expressed every commitment as to the civilian leadership that they

will continue to try to get this on track as soon as possible. they they hope it was just a temporary moment, allotted depends on what emerges from the taliban leadership but they remain absolutely committed to continue to facilitate this process which we are supportive of. >> is in change of leadership in both countries but most importantly we need to recognize two things, one when secretary clinton a few years ago they they talk about issues that happened a few years goes that it was their 911.

and whether it gives rise to taliban and or range of other factors that other countries are involved in is a compelling one and one that is increasing these connections there. were trying to double our efforts to take on extremism and see reconciliation and the other piece is looking at as we got closer to security transition the fact that the international community is at 10% of what it was two or three years ago they recognize that they were not benefiting from the potential of insecurity.

[inaudible question] and given the afghan government and they want us to play some role in that, including as we did in politics. then they are happy to do so and we will continue to do what they ask us to do including the chinese in this instance would be helpful in this process. but this is their call and this is between the afghan government and the afghan taliban and. >> i was just they did mention that they have changed things also significantly.

but the more the afghan state gets destabilized, the more safe haven there will be for them to destabilize this and so forth. so a growing recognition continues. >> i neglected to mention two other things that we heard that are relevant. the first is the indian steel and how this reconciliation comes up affects them. how much influence the taliban government has in afghanistan post-reconciliation and how much influence they continue to exert and the u.s. government needs to be in dialogue with india about how this is going and in taking into account some of these concerns. the second thing that we heard is a concern that the pakistan

believe will encourage the afghans and the taliban to reconciled. that will effectively raise the threshold with pakistan into india. and we need to make the point in pakistan and this includes were any terrorism is, it is unacceptable and that is the second issue that we have heard. >> it was an afghan led peace process. in this point we are frequently engaged on, we tried to be as

transparent as possible and we are obviously working very closely as well. i've gone to india several times a year for years. we have tried to ensure that they have every bit of a sense of what is going on as well. and clearly they express their great skepticism about it. and the more that we can demonstrate what we believe is occurring, what we believe is incentivizing it and how we think that it is productive ultimately for the long-term stability, it is an pakistan versus india or vice versa. and clearly the message is one that we made extremely clear.

>> one more question for stephen and we will open it up to the audience questions. and so what you would say to the american people and we have spent many of this and many have talked about this. to make the case for why the u.s. needs to remain engaged militarily and politically and economically for the longer-term >> i would say that they set a very alone in her speech and so i will just echo what briefly. first of all, it has been a major commitment by the men and women of the united states, taxpayers, men and women in uniform, coalitions orders and the afghan people. and second, it has accomplished a lot afghanistan is a

different place. and there is an opportunity after all the time and effort and the mistakes that were made by all of us afghans, bush administration, obama administration there is a chance that this can come out well for the afghan people and for stability in the region. it's not a sure thing but there is a chance. and with what is in comparison to the investment that we have made, a modest investment, we can enhance the chances for the outcome and the matter is because destabilization in this part of the region is a constant call to violence and an incubator for terrorist groups and terrorist groups at the end of the day come to the united states. and it's also in the national

security interest. i think if the president of the united states explains that and the american people have good sense, and it's not talking about resuming combat operations or large numbers of american troops and that includes allowing them to take and seize control and that is an opportunity well worth taking. >> opening to the audience for questions. right in the back. the back row there.

>> hello. talking about the challenges are [inaudible] >> looking at the internet politics there are concerns. did you really see that in how you look at things. because that should come as something that we need to look at. [inaudible] and do you have a specific recommendation is and what the u.s. expectation is. >> will take a few questions and then we will come back.

>> if you would please identify yourself. >> thank you very much. i am a research fellow and i have the pleasure and honor of listening to stephen the last two years many times. you tried to persuade the chinese to have a constructive participation. so based on your experience, the second part of the experience china has unleashed the new silk road project in the u.s. had stayed outside by their own initiative. so china is trying to invest and build advanced material conditions but the u.s. is scared, maybe you don't know why china is doing mad. and i'm wondering if you're staying outside, how exactly can the two countries build a

harmonious transition in that turbulent area. i thank you. >> mark schneider, international crisis group. >> there is a degree of optimism that comes through your comments. not a lot. >> this is really the highest level since 2001. and one thing is they cannot consider this object heller larry. so whether you can reach that

position without a firm commitment as you have said, that the u.s. is going to maintain those combat enabler is well beyond the 2016 and the second is whether pakistan and i think that it makes it clear that you will have to maintain the level of militaries tax so far. >> it includes the constitutional structure and the division of power.

[inaudible] and we have to make sure that there is a credible government in place. >> i was there only to meet with them only after i was very devoted to the mandate that they have and the importance of the reform. and speaking very personally when he was engaging with both

the president. [inaudible] this includes the real touchstone free and fair and transparent elections have and most importantly in terms of the testing. and so i just wanted to hear from them as far as how they are implementing the mandate which is extremely very comprehensive about what they hope to do.

[inaudible] >> china hosted a conference about the future of afghanistan, that they want to play a role in reconciliation. and they are much needed in afghanistan for core development projects in the range of other initiatives. and so it has increased the desire to be engaged. >> that includes over the past few years, there's many

complementary parts as to what the initiative is. we see this as efforts to pursue the same end goal is. and we are not investing for a variety of reasons in core projects and its complementary with renewables and the goal is to get as many megawatts on the grid and benefits to hope to be a part of that and we welcome the chinese efforts there. and with regard to mark's question.

[inaudible] so in terms of incentivizing everyone has thought about this and we have more incentives for them to join at that point. and perhaps we will see what is

working with that. and we will continue to see what occurs in that specific channel. but clearly it is all part of this and the afghans will increase pressure as well. >> i will just make two footnotes. the president was very interesting. i had lunch with him in a short meeting. he says, you know, afghanistan is fighting terrorists from central asia and the middle east. we are fighting global tarot in terror and the global community and we are not getting much

help. and the only other thing that i would say is i would agree with you -- the time is on their side and they can certainly get what they want. and the afghans continue to stay in the game, that is going to require a presence much better than what we are contemplating. and that's the irony that at this moment at the time that we

are in we have the prospect for peace, and it has both gone up. and that is because our adversaries fits that here both talking and also fighting and that's the way that these things sometimes work. we need to act in that context so we don't lose those opportunities. >> plus the added complication of leadership and more pressure from pakistan has been placed on them.

not a lot. >> the first one is on the peace process, this has been one of the causes of disputes. and there are a long way to go to play out. but i think that many of these leaders have come up being supportive of these processes. and that includes on the economic quarter also getting involved in the u.s. and china situation and dialogue in this has been an important theme. and i think we need to be more

interested in the end of pak peace. and also for cheap labor and production. and i think it doesn't make much more economic sense and we see much more economic potential. this is one of the areas with that level of money and hopefully gradually improving the relations if china could play a role and then move forward, that would probably do more for this than anything else as well as the investment.

>> we didn't get a chance to touch on that as much. this is something that we follow why to bed. but first the rhetoric from this government on economic issues realizing the this is certainly part of that community. and what we need is the what they have including when the president was here and what we announced at that point was a new development partnership which meets many goals in terms of the pre-appropriated funding but the afghans were white happy

with this because it is more in line with their interest and congress is quite happy as well and they keep it on a regular basis. so this is certainly kind of a novel thing in creative ways and we are looking for them and we certainly welcome that partnership. the second piece is that regardless of what happened international donor assistance will continue to be extremely important. there will be large things next year going on defraying the costs for the billions of dollars that we have raised. as well as engaging in keeping the international community engaged, despite all of the rest of the competition for international dollars will be very important and all the more

reason why this government needs to demonstrate that it is durable and functional. lastly is the fact that they will try to get these issues going. at the end of the day they are obviously integrated and you can hardly begin to continue this. so whatever can be done to continue to stabilize the political leadership and show that they are delivering benefits will equally continue on economic issues. [inaudible] this continued for the election process last year.

>> thank you so much. they are kind of concerned about the peace process of it. [inaudible question] [inaudible]

>> hello, i retired from the usaid and i have a particular interest in anticorruption and you mentioned it in passing. and what is happening? >> okay, someone in the middle over there. >> thank you. allow me to make a humble suggestion. it is explicitly and cynically

significant. kind of like killing two birds with one stone. my question is regarding the neighbors of afghanistan. we spoke about the neighbors on the east, which is in there. i question is regarding the gold at iran has in these negotiations or whether it can play a role. especially in terms of fighting, which it has been willingly declared that the iranians want to do so. so my question is where do you think that they should feature in this process. because they would like to see a stable afghanistan is much as any other nation. >> thank you. i will be very quick. i think to try to put iran into these negotiations would blow

all the circuits and there is in what we heard, including in washington, especially in washington although we heard it in both india and afghanistan that economically if the nuclear agreement goes through and the sanctions come out someone suggested that there's a large number of afghan workers that would then be able to go to afghanistan and send back remittances and there is an iranian element but not at the negotiating table. >> i think that that is the

right thing to do. >> i think that it has been pretty clear in this administration statement, and more importantly downy statements. and that includes the recognition of the achievements and progress not a lot. >> the truth is the problem on the economics is not just the absence of reform but the absence of confidence.

and there is not going to be confidence in the economy if the government doesn't start to perform and if they did can't get some control over the security situation. >> whatever happens in washington and this includes what the iranians have to say in terms of what is going on in this includes the nuclear sanctions. so we are months away from finding out what happens in this. and certainly it way too speculative in regards to