Security situation in Afghanistan deeply worrying: India

Lalit K Jha

Washington, Jul 1 (PTI) Deeply concerned over the
security situation in Afghanistan, India has told the UN
Security Council that the talks of "reconciliation" requires
greater caution and said distinctions like "good" and "bad"
Taliban could be seen as reflection of "weakness".

"The security situation remains deeply worrying. It does
not take much foresight to predict that the coming six months
will be difficult, most of all, for the Afghan people," the
Indian Ambassador to the UN, Hardeep Puri, said at a special
meeting of the Council On Afghanistan.

"Assymetric warfare and complex terrorist attacks are
being mounted and the well-springs that sustain such terror
show no signs of being drained. We need to ponder deeply over
how best this can be achieved," Puri said.

In this context, India continues to have reservations
regarding the language used in UN reports to describe terror
attacks. Surely such operations are not being mounted by
"anti-government elements" or "insurgents", he said.

On reconciliation, Puri said while this is often a
corollary of military strategies, in Afghanistan, this is a
matter that requires great caution.

He also cautioned that by pursuing "unworkable"
distinctions like "bad" or "good" Taliban, "we are projecting
impressions of weakness, desperation".

Successive reports of the Secretary General, and
resolutions in the Council and in the UN General Assembly,
have underscored that reconciliation should be an Afghan-led
process, within the parameters of the Constitution of the
land, Puri noted.

"It has also be been reiterated that this must be pursued
from a position of strength. We must consider if we are at
this juncture as yet," he said.

"Reconciliation requires strategic clarity, unity of
purpose, and due recognition of the nature of those with we
seek to reconcile with. Without consensus amongst relevant
parties over key issues, such as reconciliation with whom and
how, we may well be dividing ourselves; not those we seek to
'peel away' from terrorist groups," Puri said.

"It is for this reason that we must go beyond unworkable
divisions between 'good' and 'bad' Taliban. We have equally to
be mindful that in pursuing these distinctions we are
projecting impressions of weakness, desperation or a defeatist
mentality," Puri said.

In a media interview in March, US President Barack Obama
had proposed reaching out to moderate elements of the Taliban
for reconciliation in Afghanistan, a suggestion that created
much controversy. PTI