President Ashraf Ghani on Sunday said at the 18th meeting of the Council of Heads of Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) that “having formed a national consensus on peace we are firmly committed to a political solution to the conflict with the Taliban,” the Presidential Palace tweeted.

“We are pleased that our international partners are resolute in their support for a stable, peaceful, democratic and self-reliant Afghanistan,” Ghani said.

“We are witnessing the emerging of a regional consensus on the need for a stable and connected Afghanistan. On behalf of our people and government, let me thank the leaders around the table for the momentum generated and to highlight some events and measures,” he said.

He also said that the potential of Afghanistan as a hub for regional energy trade is no longer a pipe dream but a rapidly unfolding reality. “We are making weekly progress on expanding the national grid, to provide the power to drive the engines of growth.”

He said that the US’s South Asia strategy has been a game changer in creating the enabling conditions for peace and stability.

“We gratefully acknowledge the support of our partners in the security arena through the Resolute Support mission and the developmental partners through the EU sponsored Brussels conference of 2015 and bilateral commitments,” Ghani said, adding that “Our unconditional peace offer is comprehensive and we are pleased that yesterday the Taliban accepted our ceasefire declaration for aid.”

“We are utilizing the generous support to change the lives of our people through consolidation of effective and efficient institution that will be accountable to our fellow citizens,” he added. 

He stressed that to overcome inherited problems of corruption, governance and limited utilization of our human and natural capital, we are accelerating the implementation of a comprehensive agenda reform.

Democracy depends on choice of leadership through credible, inclusive, free and fair election and we are fully committed to holding parliamentary elections in 2018 and presidential elections in 2019, he added.

“Our progress is real but every step forward is made in a very difficult context. We are gaining our rights through the immense sacrifice and valor of our defense and security forces,” Ghani said, adding that “the resilience and will of our people in the face of hardship and deprivations, and the commitment of the absolute majority of the Afghan people to peace, stability, democracy and prosperity.”

Geographically located at the heart of Asia and a historical gateway to the Indian subcontinent, Afghanistan is poised to function as an Asian Roundabout, according to Ghani. 

The SCO summit was the first held after the admission of two new members, India and Pakistan.

The economic and security bloc now has eight members with the inclusion of India and Pakistan last year. The others are key drivers, China and Russia, and the Central Asian states of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.

There are four observers, including Iran and Afghanistan, and six dialogue partners.

This is the 18th summit of the SCO, which began life as the Shanghai Five in 1996 but took on the current name in 2001 when it added a new member, Uzbekistan, and also expanded its activities.