UNDERLINING THAT Afghanistan is passing through a difficult phase, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval on Wednesday said that India will never abandon the Afghan people in their time of need, sources said.
Participating in the 5th multilateral meeting of Secretaries of Security Councils/National Security Advisers on Afghanistan in Moscow, Doval said that “no country should be allowed to use Afghan territory to export terrorism and radicalisation”, sources said.
The meeting was attended by NSAs of Russia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Pakistan was not present in the meeting.
According to sources, Doval said that “terrorism has become a major threat in the region”, and “dealing with Daesh and terror outfits like Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) requires intensified intelligence and security cooperation between respective States and its agencies”.
They said the NSA reaffirmed the importance of UNSCR 2593 (2021) that calls for terror outfits including those designated by UNSCR 1267 to be denied sanctuary in the region. “No country should be allowed to use Afghan territory to export terrorism and radicalisation,” he told his counterparts in the meeting.
Sources said various issues related to Afghanistan were discussed, including the security situation and humanitarian challenges facing Afghanistan.
Doval told his counterparts that “Afghanistan is passing through a difficult phase” and “India has a historical and special relationship with Afghanistan”, the sources said.
“The well-being and humanitarian needs of people of Afghanistan is India’s foremost priority. This will continue to guide our approach,” he is learnt to have told the meeting, adding that India will never abandon the Afghan people in their time of need.
While focusing on food security and medical supplies, he said that India has so far delivered 40,000 MT of wheat, 60 tons of medicines, 5 lakh Covid vaccines, winter clothing and 28 tons of disaster relief. “India’s technical team is overseeing our humanitarian assistance programme. Standing with Afghans, India has granted fresh scholarships to 2,260 Afghan students including 300 Afghan girls during the past two years,” he told the meeting, sources said.
He also said that an “inclusive and representative dispensation is in the larger interest of Afghan society”.
Stressing that “natural resources of Afghanistan should be utilised first for welfare of people of Afghanistan”, Doval said that “India is and will remain an important stakeholder in Afghanistan”.
“We always stood by the people of Afghanistan and will always support collective efforts to help Afghan people build a prosperous and vibrant nation once again,” Doval told the meeting, hosted by Russian NSA Nikolai Patrushev.
The third round of this Conference was held in New Delhi under the chairmanship of NSA Ajit Doval in November 2021. The 4th meeting was held in Dushanbe, Tajikistan in May 2022.