At UNSC Meet on Afghanistan, India's Veiled Dig at Pak: 'Those Supporting Terrorists Must be Held Accountable'...
At UNSC Meet on Afghanistan, India's Veiled Dig at Pak: 'Those Supporting Terrorists Must be Held Accountable'....
“For enduring peace in Afghanistan, terrorist safe havens and sanctuaries in the region must be dismantled immediately and terrorist supply chains disrupted. It needs to be ensured that Afghanistan’s neighbours and the region are not threatened by terrorism, separatism, and extremism,” Tirumurti said in a veiled reference to Pakistan.
The UN Security Council, under the Presidency of India, held an urgent meeting on Friday to discuss the worsening security situation in Afghanistan, following multiple blasts in Kabul, including a car explosion outside the defence minister’s residence.
Afghanistan Foreign Minister Mohammad Haneef Atmar had on Tuesday requested a special discussion on the deteriorating situation. India as it holds the Presidency of the UN Security Council this month.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan had earlier called the Taliban “normal civilians”, not military outfits, and asked how the country was supposed to hunt them down when it has three million Afghan refugees at the border.
Tirumurti said at the meeting that there needed to be “zero tolerance for terrorism in all its forms and manifestations”.
“It is equally important to ensure that the territory of Afghanistan is not used by terrorist groups to threaten or attack any other country. Those providing material and financial support to terrorist entities must be held accountable,” he said.
He said that as a neighbour of Afghanistan, the current situation prevailing in the country is of great concern to India.
“The violence shows no sign of abating. The report of the UN makes it clear that civilian casualties and targeted killings have reached record levels. There have been targeted attacks on religious and ethnic minorities, girl students, Afghan security forces, Ulemas, women occupying positions of responsibility, journalists, civil rights activists, and the youth,” Tirumurti said.
He said even UN compound had not been spared; the residence of the Defence Minister of Afghanistan had been attacked; an Indian journalist murdered while reporting, and that fighting continued in Helmand and Herat.
