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Mr. Chairman, Your Excellencies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.

We express our sincere gratitude to the UK Government for organising the London Conference which has called upon the Afghan Government and the International Community at this critical time to review and prioritise policy directions for Afghanistan.

LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 28: His Highness the Aga Khan walks from Downing Street after a breakfast meeting with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on January 28, 2010 in London, England. Foreign ministers from over 70 countries will attend the conference, co-hosted by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Talks aims to tackle key issues on the future of Afghanistan and the gradual withdrawal of international troops from the country.

LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 28: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks with His Highness the Aga Khan before posing for a photograph ahead of the Afghanistan London Conference at Lancaster House on January 28, 2010 in London, England. Foreign ministers from over 70 countries will attend the conference, co-hosted by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Talks aims to tackle key issues on the future of Afghanistan and the gradual withdrawal of international troops from the country.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (R) talks to the Aga Khan at the ' Afghanistan : The London Conference' in central London, January 28, 2010. The international community must aim to turn the tide in Afghanistan by the middle of next year, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Thursday.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (bottom row C) talks with the Aga Khan (bottom row L) as they prepare to pose for a family photograph at the beginning of the ' Afghanistan : The London Conference' in Lancaster House, central London January 28, 2010. The Kabul government on Thursday invited Taliban leaders to a peace council of elders in a step toward resolving the Afghanistan conflict and called on Saudi Arabia to help in the quest for peace.

Delegates and officials pose for a family photograph at the beginning of the ' Afghanistan : The London Conference' in Lancaster House, central London January 28, 2010. (Front row L-R) Aga Khan, Afghanistan' s President Hamid Karzai, Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Afghan President Hamid Karzai said on Thursday he would hold a council of elders in what could could be a first step towards bringing Taliban insurgents into a political settlement of the conflict.

LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 28: British Foreign Secretary David Miliband (R) greets His Highness the Aga Khan as he arrives to attend the Afghanistan London Conference at Lancaster House on January 28, 2010 in London, England. Foreign ministers from over 70 countries will attend the conference, co-hosted by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Talks aims to tackle key issues on the future of Afghanistan and the gradual withdrawal of international troops from the country.

Delegates and officials pose for a family photograph at the beginning of the ' Afghanistan : The London Conference' in Lancaster House, central London January 28, 2010. Front row (L-R), Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Afghanistan Kai Eide, the Aga Khan, Afghan President Hamid Karzai, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, U.N.

LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 28: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks with His Highness the Aga Khan before posing for a photograph ahead of the Afghanistan London Conference at Lancaster House on January 28, 2010 in London, England. Foreign ministers from over 70 countries will attend the conference, co-hosted by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Talks aims to tackle key issues on the future of Afghanistan and the gradual withdrawal of international troops from the country.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (R) talks to the Aga Khan at the ' Afghanistan : The London Conference' in central London, January 28, 2010. The international community must aim to turn the tide in Afghanistan by the middle of next year, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Thursday.

LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 28: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks with His Highness the Aga Khan before posing for a photograph ahead of the Afghanistan London Conference at Lancaster House on January 28, 2010 in London, England. Foreign ministers from over 70 countries will attend the conference, co-hosted by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Talks aims to tackle key issues on the future of Afghanistan and the gradual withdrawal of international troops from the country.

LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 28: British Foreign Secretary David Miliband (R) greets His Highness the Aga Khan as he arrives to attend the Afghanistan London Conference at Lancaster House on January 28, 2010 in London, England. Foreign ministers from over 70 countries will attend the conference, co-hosted by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Talks aims to tackle key issues on the future of Afghanistan and the gradual withdrawal of international troops from the country.

Delegates and officials pose for a family photograph at the beginning of the ' Afghanistan : The London Conference' in Lancaster House, central London January 28, 2010. Front row (L-R), incoming Afghan foreign minister Zalmay Rasoul, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Afghanistan Kai Eide, the Aga Khan, Afghan President Hamid Karzai, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, incumbent Afghan Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta, and Britain's Foreign Secretary David Miliband.

2010, January 28 - London, UK: "Results change minds, not rhetoric." His Highness the Aga Khan's statement at the London Conference on Afghanistan today.

International conference on Afghanistan begins in London - Foreign ministers of over 70 countries gathered at a conference in London to discuss the current situation and future of Afghanistan.

January 31, 2006 : London, United Kingdom: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, left, smiles as she sits next to the Aga Khan, right, at the London conference on Afghanistan, Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2006.