New Delhi: India on Wednesday urged the
international community to bring pressure on Pakistan to
implement its commitment to act against terror groups within
its territory.
It also pledged to "invest and endure" in Afghanistan for
peace, democracy and development there.
"The international community should put effective
pressure on Pakistan to implement its stated commitment to
deal with terrorist groups within its territory, including
members of al-Qaeda, Taliban`s Quetta Shura, Hizb-e-Islami,
Lashkar-e-Toiba and other like-minded terrorist groups,"
Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said here.
"India has already made up its mind -- invest and endure,
because we believe in the cause of peace, democracy and
development in Afghanistan," Rao said in her concluding
remarks at a two-day international seminar on `Peace and
Stability in Afghanistan: The Way Ahead`.
She said that unless terror groups operating from
Pakistani soil are eliminated, the gains made in the past
eight years in the war on terror would be compromised with and
the situation could return to the pre-9/11 level.
"The world has come to realise, at considerable cost,
that terrorism cannot be compartmentalised, and any facile
attempts to strike Faustian bargains with terrorists often
result in such forces turning on the very powers that
sustained them in the past," she added.
Observing that a sense of defeatism pervaded certain
sections of international opinion on terrorism, Rao said it
needed to be guarded against, because it ran the risk of
encouraging insurgent groups, besides weakening the authority
of the central government and its institutions.
Noting that Afghanistan needed a long-term commitment,
even while remaining mindful of the challenges, the Foreign
Secretary expressed the hope that friends of the Asian country
too would "invest and endure" like India had decided.
"The challenge from a resurgent Taliban and al-Qaeda is
real, and it is one that threatened us all. When we speak of
recommitting ourselves to helping Afghanistan defeat the
forces that seek to destroy all that has been achieved since
2001, it is important to recognise that all of us have an
abiding interest in the success of this endeavour (to ensure
peace)," she added.
The success or failure of the endeavour to ensure peace
and development in Afghanistan had consequences that extended
far beyond individual nations, or even this generation, Rao
said adding, any discussion on the Asian neighbour would be
incomplete unless the voices of its friends who have a vital
stake in ensuring its stability and reconstruction were heard.
She said the interests of India and Afghanistan
converged. New Delhi had already committed to a USD 1.2
billion assistance programme, which included the construction
of the Salma Dam on the Hari Rud River in Herat as also the
Afghan Parliament building, Rao added.
"Both the projects should be completed by the end of
2011," Rao added.
Referring to the recent presidential elections in
Afghanistan, the Foreign Secretary said the post-poll period
provided a fresh opportunity for a renewed commitment by the
international community towards rebuilding the country.
"Soon after the inauguration of the new government....the
international community and the Afghan government should come
together to configure the contours of their partnership for
the next five years," she said.
Observing that the failure to stabilise Afghanistan would
entail a heavy cost for both the Afghan people and the world
at large, she said the responsibility of institution-building
and governance was on the shoulders of the Afghan people.
"This is the last opportunity for the country to
extricate itself from its endemic entanglement with violence
and under-development and settle on a track of stability and
sustainable progress," she added.
India, Rao said, also supported the idea of enlarging
the Afghan National Security Forces and developing it into a
professional manner, at a much faster pace.
"ANSF should be provided appropriate resources, combat
equipment and training," she added.
Bureau Report
