India on Tuesday underlined the need for a stable, secure and peaceful Afghanistan for the security and prosperity of the region.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, addressing separate meetings of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) here in the Chinese capital, asked the member states to strongly support the Afghanistan Government’s efforts for inclusive peace and reconciliation process and adopt an uncompromising approach towards the persisting threat of terrorism in that country.
In her address to the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers meeting, Swaraj said that peace in the war-torn Afghanistan could be achieved through political dialogue and reconciliation in an atmosphere free from terror and violence, within the framework of Afghan Constitution.
About 90 people, including security personnel and civilians, have died and 200 injured in a spate of terror attacks in the last three days in Afghanistan.
“I believe that peace and development in Afghanistan contributes to security and prosperity of the member states and the region as a whole. This can only be achieved through political dialogue and reconciliation in an atmosphere free from terror and violence, within the framework of Afghan Constitution,” Swaraj said.
She asked the member states to “strongly support” the Afghanistan Government’s active effort “to implement Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled, inclusive peace and reconciliation process”.
The Haqqani network has carried out a number of kidnapping and attacks against US interests in Afghanistan. The group is also blamed for several deadly attacks against Indian interests in Afghanistan, including the 2008 bombing of the Indian mission in Kabul that killed 58 people.