UNITED NATIONS, Mar 17: Asserting that terror groups like Pakistan-based LeT cannot remain active in Afghanistan without “systematic state support” from “beyond” its borders, India has asked the UN Security Council to act against this security threat with a sense of urgency.
Reiterating its commitment to “stay the course” in Afghanistan, India told the UN Security Council that the main source of instability in the war-torn nation is terrorism and not ethnic rivalries.
Expressing concern over the security situation inside Afghanistan, India has cited UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s latest report which said the number of security incidents in Afghanistan was the second highest in 2014 after 2011 when al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was neutralised.
The Secretary General’s report “substantiates our view that it is terrorism, and not tribal differences or ethnic rivalries, which is the main source of insecurity and instability in Afghanistan,” India’s Ambassador to the UN Asoke Mukerji said at the Security Council debate on United Nations Assistance Mission for Afghanistan (UNAMA) here yesterday.
He said that the terrorist groups, including the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), are active despite efforts of the valiant personnel of the Afghan National Security Forces and the international coalition forces.
“It is obvious that their activity cannot be sustained without systematic state support from beyond Afghanistan’s borders,” Mukerji said adding that reports indicate these groups are mutating into more virulent forms, in a region already impacted by terrorism.
“The Council must act against this threat with a sense of urgency,” Mukerji said.
He said it is a critical decade of transformation for Afghanistan and reiterated India’s commitment to “stay the course” in the war-raveged country.
“India is proud to call itself Afghanistan’s first strategic partner. We share the Afghan people’s vision of a strong, independent, united and prosperous state…India stands ready to do all that is possible within our capacities and our means, to work with the Afghan Government and its people, to realise this great vision,” he said.
Mukerji informed the 15-nation Council that India, Afghanistan and Iran are examining how the existing port of Chabahar in Iran can be developed to help Afghanistan connect with the outside world. (PTI)
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