4.Afghanistan

At the end of September, the National Unity Government (NUG), which was inaugurated after agreeing to a power-sharing arrangement between President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, marked two years in office, but the NUG continues to face significant challenges. There have been repeated terrorist attacks across the country by the Taliban and ISIL-Khorasan Province, and there have been many victims amongst the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) and the foreign troops providing support to ANDSF, while civilian victims are also on the rise. In terms of the essential reconciliation with anti-government forces needed to achieve long-term stability in the country, a peace pact was signed with the Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin in September, but there have been no achievements towards a reconciliation with the larger force of the Taliban. In addition, the deterioration in relations between the president and the chief executive, and the dismissal of seven cabinet ministers for corruption, also show signs of turmoil in internal affairs.

The self-reliance of and stability in Afghanistan are crucially important for the stability of the international community and the prosperity of the region. Throughout 2016, the international community indicated strong intent to continuously support the endeavors of the NUG. At the NATO Warsaw Summit in July, a commitment to continue assistance in the security field was announced. At the “Brussels Conference on Afghanistan” in October, the participants confirmed total pledges of about 15.2 billion US dollars for development assistance until 2020. State Minister for Foreign Affairs Sonoura, who was attending the conference, announced that effort would be made to continue assistance worth up to 40 billion yen a year in aid to maintain the current level of Japan's assistance while calling on Afghanistan to advance various reforms in areas such as corruption, depravity, and electoral reform.