At SCO meet, India presents three-point peace plan for Afghanistan
Foreign Minister S Jaishankar criticised Taliban’s use of violence to seize power.
India, at a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation on Wednesday, presented a three-point roadmap for peace in Afghanistan. India’s statement came amid reports of Taliban forces taking control of large parts of the country.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar tweeted about the plan after the SCO Contact Group’s meeting in Tajikistan’s capital Dushanbe. “Ceasing violence and terrorist attacks against civilians and state representatives, settle conflict through political dialogue and respect interests of all ethnic groups and ensure that neighbours are not threatened by terrorism, separatism and extremism,” he said.
2. Ceasing violence and terrorist attacks against civilians and state representatives, settle conflict through political dialogue, and respect interests of all ethnic groups, and
— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) July 14, 2021
3. Ensure that neighbours are not threatened by terrorism, separatism and extremism.
Jaishankar added that the people of Afghanistan and the world wanted an “independent, neutral, unified, peaceful, democratic and prosperous nation”.
The foreign minister said the world was against the use of violence to seize power. “The future of Afghanistan cannot be its past,” Jaishankar said. “A whole new generation has different expectations.”
Since United States President Joe Biden announced in April that he would pull back troops from Afghanistan, the Taliban have taken control of several districts. In the last few weeks, the group has seized border crossings with Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Iran. Taliban forces also attacked a prison on the outskirts of Kandahar city.
On Sunday, India said it had temporarily evacuated officials from its consulate in Kandahar as Taliban violence escalated.
A delegation of Taliban officials in Russia on Friday claimed the insurgent group controlled around 85% of Afghanistan’s territory. The Afghanistan government denied this claim.
Hours later, at a joint press conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow, Jaishankar expressed concerns about the events in Afghanistan. The minister was on a three-day visit to Russia.
Jaishankar added that violence cannot be the solution to the situation in Afghanistan. “At the end of the day, who governs Afghanistan has a legitimacy aspect of it,” the minister said. “I think that is something which cannot and should not be ignored.”