India said on Tuesday that an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire in Afghanistan is the need of the hour and a “basic prerequisite” for the success of the peace process, as it voiced deep concern at the rising use of violence as a “tool for pressure tactics.”
India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador T S Tirumurti told the UN Security Council debate on the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) that the Council had earlier this month strongly condemned the alarming number of attacks deliberately targeting civilians in Afghanistan and had expressed their deep concern about the threat posed by terrorism to Afghanistan and the region.
“These attacks are aimed at forcing the Afghan people to make pre-determined choices through coercion and spreading fear and intimidation within the society. As Afghanistan’’s immediate neighbour, we are deeply concerned at the rising use of violence as a tool for pressure tactics,” he said.
Tirumurti stressed India believes that an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire in Afghanistan is the need of the hour. “This is not only in the interest of the people of Afghanistan, who have been the victims of unrelenting violence, but a basic prerequisite for the success of the peace process. It goes without saying that talks and violence cannot go hand in hand.”