During a special international Nowruz festival in Kabul on Thursday, President Hamid Karzai touched base with the leaders of nine participating countries from around the region.

Karzai said at the event that harmony and cooperation between the countries will support the region to overcome any militancy and extremism issues.
This year Afghanistan hosted the annual international Nowruz festival with participations from heads of states of Iran, Tajikistan, Pakistan and high ranking delegations from Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan.

In his speech, president Karzai addressed the historical background of Nowruz and said that regional coordination will help conquer common issues between the participating countries.

"We are the owners of a great civilization," president Karzai said. "These cultural and historic similarities along with our geographical commonness can further expand harmony and solidarity among our countries and for our future and the civilization of our region is the fruit of scientific and cultural assets of great personalities of our countries."

In his speech, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani urged the people of Afghanistan to pursue the way of moderation and combat fundamentalism and extremism.

"Today we celebrate Nowruz in a country that has been the victim of ignorance, aggression and extremism over many eras, but has always acted like the Phoenix fighting against extremism, communism and fundamentalism protecting its independence and freedom," Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said.

Deputy Head of Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit, Mir Ahmad Joyenda said that president Rouhani's official view and international stance on the situation in Afghanistan was just to please president Karzai.

Tajikistan's President Emomali Rahman also addressed the gathering asking Afghans to wisely mark their future by participating in elections.

"Moderation is the way that leads to construction, intellectualism, growth and prosperity while extremism and violence massively harm the civilization and the society," Rahman said.

While Pakistan's President Mamnoon Hussain pointed out cultural similarities and urged on close cooperation between the two countries.
"Today's event shows that our region has cultural diversity," Hussain said. "We must share this culture diversity with each other."

The Nowruz festival was held in the Presidential Palace where the presence of four presidents and high level delegation members conveyed positive messages about regional solidarity despite minor downfalls in some relations.

The Afghan government had undertaken special preparations to celebrate Nowruz at Paghman Hill, but the program was transferred to the Presidential Palace because of security threats.