Quotes from Ashraf Ghani

I went to Pakistan; I engaged in peace. If a hand extended is not shaken, what are you supposed to do?

Pakistan and Afghanistan are not mere neighbours, we are more than that, we are connected by Muslim bond of brotherhood.

President Karzai was an accidental president. There was no paradigm for the conditions he faced, because no one could have imagined 9/11. He had to improvise under very difficult conditions to hold this country together.

Every global leader that I have seen has at least agreed on one point: I do have the world's most difficult job. But I hope to make it easier for my successor.

We will not let the price of peace be greater than the price of war, we will firmly safeguard the achievements of the past 13 years under former President Karzai.

We could form a government of national unity fighting corruption. The ordinary Afghan is sick and tired of it, because it's she or he that pays the price.

Peace is a national issue, not only government's responsibility.

We've had a difficult legacy of 40 years, and cleaning up is not going to be a one day job. But we are engaged in a systematic effort, we have not allowed formation of new militia groups, and we are reforming the local police systematically so that there won't be abuse.

The first principle of tackling corruption is that you do not engage in it and you have the will to confront it.

Peace cannot come without the government of Afghanistan speaking directly to the Taliban or the Taliban talking directly to us.

By terrorising the people, the Taliban have sown deep doubts about the government.

President Obama called me on his last day in office and said the only person who never asked him for anything was me.

President Trump is engaging and if you get your points across then he asks you questions.

Deadlines concentrate the mind. But deadlines should not be dogmas.

The privileged elites are part of the globalization moment that we live in.

You can get together, you can talk as much as you want, but if there's not a decision-making process - that's where democracy really matters.

No power in the country can dissolve the government.

When I talk to another Afghan I am his or her equal and that moves me to tears.

I have a strange - because there's no other way probably of describing it - uh, temper. I'm a very difficult taskmaster. I don't wait.

My father's mother really had a profound influence on me. She literally began her day with an hour of reading. But the most fundamental impact was education.

If I get elected, my government will promote a culture of acceptance and non-violence in the country.

As long as I am president, the rights of women will be protected.

We are not a battlefield and we will not allow anyone to use our territory against any of our neighbour, but we will not allow our neighbours to use our territory this way either.

There's a Darwinian struggle amongst terror groups for hegemony. Da'esh has broken out of the pack because Al-Qaeda and the rest rendered allegiance to Mullah Omar.