The success of the Conference should be judged by how much donors commit to do for the security and development of the Afghan people, not their own political agendas. The real measure of security and development in Afghanistan is not the number of foreign troops, but whether people feel safe enough to go to the market, to travel at night to seek medical care, or to send their children to school.

The Afghan people need a government that is functional and accountable. The warlords offer neither.

You must keep in mind that Pakistan has suffered the aftermaths of the Cold War, and that Cold War had left deep imprints on our society. We were the worst sufferers from the ills of the Afghan war.

It's amazing what the soldiers are doing to help the Afghan people,

The start of the repatriation season is slow, as some 15 Afghan families comprising about 75 individuals have left Pakistan over the last two days, including five families that returned on Wednesday. But this is quite usual.

The step has been taken to enhance security measures on the border before the Afghan elections,

not only Afghan civilians and the Afghan people but the whole process that has started in Afghanistan, which is basically for peace and stability and prosperity.

Whoever they are, we are sure they are terrorists because this was an Afghan national ... a leader with a long history of struggle for the freedom of his country.

I do spend a lot of weekends on the road. I have to pace myself. It can be pretty busy, but I'm not out in the Afghan desert with 70 pounds on my back, away from my family for a year at a time. I keep a good perspective on it.

The book came after the fall of the Taliban, it says something about Afghan family life. Those kind of stories - what happens behind the scenes on a TV screen - are important.