Helping Afghanistan connected to legacy of friendship: India

Lalit K Jha

Washington, Jul 1 (PTI) India Wednesday said it is
committed to help Afghanistan towards peace and stability as
this is connected to the civilisational legacy of Indo-Afghan
friendship and not to regional security alone.

"Stabilising Afghanistan is not only integrally connected
with our own security, it is also connected to the
civilisational legacy of our friendship," India's Permanent
Representative to the United Nations, Hardeep Puri, said at a
special meeting of the UN Security Council on Afghanistan.

"That is why attacks upon our people and symbols of our
friendship only serve to outrage us and redouble our
commitment to Afghanistan," he said.

Stabilisation of Afghanistan must be a central part of
regional processes, if it is to regain its role as the
crossroads of South, West and Central Asia, he argued.

This includes regional economic processes, such as South
Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and the
Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan. These
benefit the entire region, he observed.

Noting that hindering these processes affects Afghanistan
and the region as well, Puri said: "We must expand, rather
than hinder, trade, transit and transport ties, including
overland transit and trade. That is the best way of bringing
the regional dimension into play in a positive manner."

India, Puri noted, has contributed more than USD 1.2
billion in aid to Afghanistan. PTI