The 9th round of Herat Security Dialogues (HSD-IX), organized by the Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies (AISS) was held in three levels (Provincial, Virtual and In-Person) on November 12-14, 2020. The main theme of this round of the dialogue was “Afghanistan Peace Processes”.

On Thursday, 12 November, the virtual sessions kicked off by welcoming remarks of Dr. Rangin Dadfar Spanta, Chairman of AISS Advisory Board. Furthermore, the keynote speaker of the virtual sessions was H.E. Amrullah Saleh, First Vice President of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. Amb. Sujan R. Chinoy, Director General of the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses, and Dr. Aparna Pande, Director, Initiative on the Future of India and South Asia also addressed at the event.

The virtual sessions of the 9th round of the Herat Security Dialogues included ten panels. The first panel was titled “Afghanistan's Political Structure”, the second panel “Ethnic Discourse in Afghanistan”, the third panel “Islamic Political System”, the forth panel “What the Taliban Want?”, the Fifth panel “Afghanistan and Pakistan Relationship”, the sixth panel “Art and Criteria of a Successful Peace Negotiation”, the seventh panel “US-Afghanistan Relationship”, the eight panel “Feasibility of Afghanistan- China- Iran Cooperation”, the ninth panel “Prospects for Afghanistan-India-US Trilateral Cooperation”, and the tenth panel was on “The International Community’s Perspective and Role in Afghan Peace”. Researchers, professors, politicians, members of civil society and diplomats from different countries and international organization participated in the virtual sessions.

On Friday, 13 November, the actual conference began with performance of Sufi Music and welcoming remarks by Governor of Herat, Abdul Wahid Qatali, and AISS Director General, Davood Moradian in Herat.

H.E. Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, Chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation was the keynote speaker of the conference. He noted there is war and violence in the country and we should not forget the effort to achieve peace. It is clear that there are differences of opinion between the government and the people of Afghanistan on many issues, but we all agree on the issue of peace, he said. We believe that there is no winner in war and no loser in peace, but the other side must also believe in that, he added. Dr. Abdullah said that "although each country has its own position, and in my travels to countries in the region, we came to the common point that the war in Afghanistan is to the detriment of the region." On the other hand, he cautioned, we should not expect the countries of the region to shape their foreign policies as we wish, but the regional dimension is an important achievement in ending the war and ensuring peace in Afghanistan.

H.E. General H.R McMaster was the special guest of the conference, and deliver his message via a per-recorded video clip.

During the first day of the conference, speakers shared their views in four panels. The first panel deliberated on “Afghanistan's political structure: legitimacy, capacity”, the second panel was titled “Afghanistan Geopolitics: puppet, puppet master” the third panel discussed “Structural Corruption: Termites or Dragons?” The fourth panel in the first day of the conference titled “Islamic Political System: An Achievable Utopia?”

The second day of the conference focused on three panels. The first panel was titled “Victims; Justice, forgiveness, peace”, the second panel focused on “Peace Processes/Models: Tajikistan, Tunisia or Syria?”, and the last panel was titled “The Way Forward.

At the end of the conference, Dr Davood Moradian thanked participants for gathering and sharing their perspectives. He also appreciated Herat’s people for warm welcoming.

Herat Security Dialogue has been held in Herat for the past eight years, as a platform for exchanging thoughts among local, regional and international policy makers. Herat Security Dialogue-IX`s full report, including photos and videos will soon be available on HSD page.