The Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies (AISS) held the fourth “Afghanistan-Central Asia Dialogue (ACAD-IV)” in Bamyan, Afghanistan on July 14-15, 2017. This year’s Dialogue was devoted to discuss, "Nexus of “Geo-Politics and Terrorism". A group of Afghan experts, government officials, diplomats, academia and civil society members and as well as representatives from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, India, Pakistan, China, USA and some European countries participated in the event.
H.E Chief Executive Dr. Abdullah, Abdullah and Mohammad Tahir Zohair governor of Bamyan province officially opened the #ACAD2017.
Dr. Abdullah Abdullah's opening remarks were on the importance of a shared strategy in fight against terrorism. He added that some countries differentiate between 'good' and 'bad' terrorist groups. Emphasizing that Afghan government is determined to build peace in Afghanistan
“The world in transition; return of geopolitics; evolution of terrorism”, “new great game: Central Asian states: stakeholders or passive observers”, “external powers: rules of the game” were major themes of discussion during the first day of the conference. During the second day of this dialogue, there were two working sessions held under the following themes: “Afghanistan: from great game to great consensus”, “outsmarting terrorists; indigenous narratives”, and “the way forward”.
The Afghanistan-Central Asia Dialogue (ACAD) is an international annual forum which aims to help promote mutual understanding and finding common and practical cooperation in the areas of political dialogue, security coordination, economic cooperation and cultural exchanges.
The first round of the Afghanistan-Central Asia Dialogue was held in Kabul on December 18-19, 2013, followed by the second in Kabul on December 13-14, 2014 and the third round in Mazar-e-Sharif on December 17-18 2015.
The conference full report, photos and videos will be soon available on HSD_ V page. More information on (ACAD) series is available on AISS