Karzai also said he was planning to meet with representatives of Japan’s major trading house Mitsubishi Corporation later in the day to discuss possible future exploitation of the deposits. Afghanistan’s mining minister said on Thursday that mineral deposits in his country could be worth up to three trillion dollars, tripling a US estimate which emerged earlier this week.
“So the prospects for Afghan-istan are massively great and good,” Karzai said. “Whereas Saudi Arabia is the oil capital of the world, Afghanistan will be the lithium capital of the world.”
“And Japan is welcome to participate in the lithium exploration in Afghanistan,” he said of the material used in batteries for a range of electronic devices.
“Morally, Afghanistan should give access as a priority to those countries that have helped Afghanistan massively in the past few years,” he said.
Japan last year pledged up to five billion dollars in aid by 2013 to rebuild the impoverished country, where US-led and then multinational forces have been battling Taliban insurgents since late 2001.
Karzai thanked new Prime Minister Naoto Kan on Thursday for Japan’s support.
Kan however reminded Karzai of the need for better governance in his corruption-riddled nation. Asked how to rebuild security in Afghanistan, Karzai said he is working to build up “Afghan forces, Afghan police and continue to fight extremism.”
He also said another approach was engaging “grassroots Taliban” fighters who are not hardcore members of extremist groups, to encourage them to lay down their arms and return to civil society.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 19th, 2010.
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