AMRITSAR: The leaders of India and Afghanistan on Sunday urged countries in their region to stop supporting armed militants.

Without naming Pakistan, both Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani while speaking at the Heart of Asia conference urged their neighbour to ‘stop offering shelter and support to militants who commit violence in the region’.

Mr Ghani said the region urgently required a fund to combat extremism and suggested that the $500 million promised by Islamabad for Afghan reconstruction would be better used for fighting terrorism.

“This fund could very well be used for containing extremism because without peace, any amount of assistance will not meet the needs of our people,” he said.

“Despite our intense engagement with Pakistan on bilateral and multilateral basis, the undeclared war... not only has not abated but also intensified during 2016 with special intensity,” Mr Ghani said.

Mr Modi said that terrorism posed the gravest threat to Afghanistan’s search for peace, stability and prosperity. And it’s not just Afghanistan, but the entire region that is being hit by violence, he said.

“The growing arc of terrorist violence endangers our entire region,” he warned, urging Islamabad to do more to curb alleged militant activity and sanctuaries in its territory.

Published in Dawn, December 5th, 2016