WEB DESK
India’s Permanent Representative to United Nations, Syed Akbaruddin has said that India supports the United Nations Secretary-General’s call for direct talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government. Mr Akbaruddin was speaking during the quarterly debate on United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan at the UN Security Council.
Mr Akbaruddin said, it is the Afghan people who will implement and bear the consequences of any agreements arrived at. Hence outcomes having constitutional legitimacy and political mandate and which are arrived at in an inclusive and democratic way can ensure stability.
The Indian envoy’s statement comes after the United States announced that the peace talks with the Taliban have been cancelled.
Mr Akbaruddin also said, the international community needs to continue its commitments made to the Afghan security forces in their fight against the scourge of terrorism. The Indian envoy hit out at Pakistan indirectly for providing safe havens to terrorists on its soil. He stressed that support and safe havens enjoyed from beyond Afghanistan’s borders by insurgents groups such as Taliban, Haqqani Network, Da’esh, as well as Al Qaeda & its proscribed affiliates, including Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, must be addressed.
The remarks came a day after India indirectly attacked Pakistan in the United Nations Human Rights Council for fabricating false narrative on Jammu and Kashmir.
Earlier, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had reiterated his call for direct talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government.
Mr Guterres also said that Afghanistan’s volatile security situation is highly concerning, and cited direct threats to the Presidential election on 28th of this month, by anti-government elements that may discourage many Afghans from voting.