At SCO, PM Modi Says Entire Region at 'Risk' After Taliban's Topple of Afghanistan....

 At SCO, PM Modi Says Entire Region at 'Risk' After Taliban's Topple of Afghanistan....

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday that the events in Afghanistan have affected the country’s neighbours the most, while addressing the developments in the war-ravaged nation after the Taliban’s takeover, at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit. The Prime Minister said that it is necessary that “the international community should take a decision on the recognition of the new system thoughtfully and collectively”.

“The developments in Afghanistan should be as inclusive as possible. Women and minorities need to be protected,” the PM said, amid concerns of the militant group curbing women’s rights in a strict compliance of the Sharia law as seen during their previous regime. PM Modi’s statement came at the SCO-CHS Summit in Tajikistan capital, Dushanbe. The Prime Minister said the change of power in Afghanistan happened without negotiation, and that questions arise on the acceptability of the new system. Representation of all sections of Afghanistan including women and minorities is important, he said.

The situation in Afghanistan is worsening given the humanitarian and financial crisis that the country is facing. The Global community should be careful in the way it approaches issues related to Afghanistan,” Modi said, adding that the new regime was not “inclusive”.

The Prime Minister said the global community cannot let radicalism take over Afghanistan as it will give rise to more terror. “We need to arrive at mechanisms to ensure that Afghanistan is not used for any terror activities. SCO needs to work towards it,” he said. He added that this mechanism should have zero tolerance towards terror.

Modi said the developments in Afghanistan may lead to an uncontrolled flow of drugs, illegal arms and human trafficking, adding that a large quantities of advanced weapons are left in the war-ravaged country, due to which there will be a risk of instability in the entire region.

The PM said India is willing to continue providing help to its Afghan friends, as “our relations are centuries-old.”

=In his earlier virtual address at the SCO, Modi had also called for enhancing connectivity between the landlocked Central Asian countries and India but at the same time noted that connectivity projects should be consultative, transparent and they should be implemented while respecting the territorial integrity of all countries.

The prime minister had talked about Sufism and the cultural heritage of Central Asia, and said on the basis of this historical heritage, the SCO should develop a common template to fight radicalisation and extremism. “The 20th anniversary of the SCO is also a suitable occasion to think about the future of the SCO. I believe that the biggest challenges in this area are related to peace, security and trust deficit and the root cause of these problems is increasing radicalisation,” the prime minister said.

He had said the recent developments in Afghanistan have made this challenge more apparent and the SCO should take an initiative on this issue. “If we look at history, we will find that the region of Central Asia has been a bastion of moderate and progressive cultures and values. Traditions like Sufism have flourished here over the centuries and spread throughout the region and the world,” the prime minister said.

“We can still see their influence in the cultural heritage of this region. On the basis of this historical heritage of Central Asia, SCO should develop a common template to fight radicalisation and extremism,” he said. Modi said the SCO should work to develop a strong network among moderate, tolerant and inclusive institutions and traditions associated with Islam. “In India, and almost in all SCO countries, there are moderate, tolerant and inclusive institutions and traditions associated with Islam. SCO should work to develop a strong network between them,” he had said.

The SCO, seen as a counterweight to NATO, is an eight-member economic and security bloc and has emerged as one of the largest transregional international organisations. India and Pakistan became its permanent members in 2017. The SCO was founded at a summit in Shanghai in 2001 by the presidents of Russia, China, the Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

The eight-member SCO grouping of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India and Pakistan is holding its 21st summit at Dushanbe.