Iranian Vice-President Muhammad Raza Rahimi, US State Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and Prince Karim Aga Khan were among the 300 guests from 43 countries.
The Pakistani delegation comprised Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Interior Minister Rehman Malik, Awami National Party (ANP) chief Asfandyar Wali, Senator Afrasiab Khattak, Mahmood Khan Achakzai, head of the Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party, and PPP (S) chief Aftab Sherpao.
Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna, head of Asia Department at the Ministry of External Affairs YK Sinha, Advisor to the Minister Raghvendra Shastry and Vishnu Prakash, chief spokesman for the Ministry of External Affairs were also present on the occasion.
Also in attendance were Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon of Canada, Ahmet Davutoglu of
Foreign minister of
Apart from a number of Kabul-based diplomats and non-resident ambassadors from several countries, European Union Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana was among the attendees. The guests were accorded a warm welcome on their arrival in
As a token of hospitality, Karzai exchanged pleasantries with some of the participants. "You are always welcome to take a seat here," the president jokingly told the UAE foreign minister, who was among the late-comers.
Meshrano Jirga (Senate) Chairman Sibghatullah Mujaddedi, jihadi leaders, presidential candidate Dr. Ashraf Ghani, National Council members, tribal elders, religious scholars and government functionaries took part in the event.
Conspicuous by their absence were Karzai's arch foe Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, who boycotted the run-ff elections, Wolesi Jirga Speaker Yunus Qanuni and Burhanuddin Rabbani.
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