India has expressed its support for the Afghanistan government’s offer to the Taliban to participate in a peace process without preconditions and called for international backing for the efforts.
India’s Permanent Representative Syed Akbaruddin told UN Security Council last night that these efforts will protect the rights of all Afghans, including women, children. He described the Afghan government’s new call for peace as a concrete approach to the Taliban to join the mainstream.
At the same time, Mr Akbaruddin also called for a robust response to violence from the armed groups.
He said, the irreconcilable guns need to be silenced.
On February 28, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani offered a wide-ranging peace package to the Taliban at an international conference in Kabul.
Akbaruddin, however, warned that supporters of terrorists in Afghanistan have not been deterred despite the international community efforts to promote peace.
Without mentioning Pakistan by name, he said that the international community must address the challenges faced by Afghanistan and the region from cross border terrorism emanating from safe havens and sanctuaries.
He said, there are still those who provide sanctuaries to support the dark agendas of terrorist organiations like the Taliban, Haqqani Network, Islamic State, al-Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed.
