Washington: Expressing India's security concerns due to the ongoing situation in Afghanistan, Foreign Secretary Harsh V Shringla on Friday said that Pakistan has "supported and nurtured" the Taliban that replaced the elected government.
He also said that the recently-adopted United Nations Security Council's (UNSC) resolution on Afghanistan "most important" as it involved "pressing" issues.
Interacting with reporters in Washington, Shringla said four resolutions were adopted under India's presidency at the council. However, the fourth resolution which is related to Afghanistan was "very important to us" as it called for an inclusive negotiated political settlement, and demanded that the Taliban facilitate the evacuation of those wanting to leave including foreign nationals.
This crucial resolution was adopted with the support of 13 members with Russia and China abstaining and no one voting against the resolution. Foreign Secretary Shringla was chairing the UNSC meet under the Indian presidency in which the resolution was adopted. Shringla termed India's presidency as an "active presidency".
Shringla also spoke about Pakistan's role and said, "Pakistan is a neighbour of Afghanistan, they have supported and nurtured the Taliban. There are various elements that are supported by Pakistan -- so its role has to be seen in that context."
Experts believe that Pakistan has been a key player in removing the elected Afghan government from power and establishing a group to a decisive position in Afghanistan with its dark nexus of terrorist groups in the region for over two decades.
Recently, a UN Monitoring report has said that a significant part of the leadership of Al-Qaida resides in the Afghanistan and Pakistan border region.
Talking about the current situation in Afghanistan, Shringla said, "I don't see members of the international community being passive over the situation in Afghanistan. We (India) are not there on the ground, have no assets there. It's not like we are not doing anything, we are in touch with every country that has an interest in Afghanistan." He also stated that "US and India are on the same page" on Afghanistan and they are watching the situation "very closely."
Shringla also said that India has concerns about the "free ingress" that terrorist groups have had in Afghanistan. "So we do have concerns about the free ingress that these two terrorist groups have had in Afghanistan, their role and we will watch that carefully," he added.
