India will stand with Afghans, assures MEA S. Jaishankar

New Delhi – Indian MEA S. Jaishankar assured that India would continue to stand by the Afghans amidst the dire situation in their country. The Indian MEA appealed to the international community to assist the Afghan people while addressing the United Nations Conference over Afghanistan. At the same time, MEA Jaishankar pointed out that it was imperative to create a safe route for aid to and from Afghanistan as soon as possible.

Jaishankar reaffirmed the Indian position on Afghanistan while speaking at the Virtual Conference organized by the United Nations. India attached great importance to cooperation with Ashraf Ghani’s government in Afghanistan. As a result, India’s role in Afghanistan has diminished since the Taliban took power. Among these critics, Pakistan’s analysts are at the forefront. But the Indian government insists that India’s role in Afghanistan is to stand up for the Afghan people. MEA Jaishankar once again effectively portrayed India’s role in this virtual conference.

India and the Afghan people have historically had friendly relations. India will not give up on the Afghan people, despite Afghanistan’s current political, economic, social, and security upheaval. ‘India will always provide the necessary humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people,’ the MEA assured. He also hoped that other countries would cooperate with the Afghan people.

Jaishankar suggested that it would be better for any country to provide multilateral assistance to the Afghan people. But efforts must be made to overcome the obstacles of instability and insecurity in Afghanistan. At the conference, the Indian MEA made it clear that aid could not reach the Afghan people unless a safe passage were created for the humanitarian assistance brought to Afghanistan and even out of the country.

Meanwhile, Pakistan claimed that India’s influence in Afghanistan had ended after the Afghan capital, Kabul, fell to the Taliban. Pakistan, along with other countries, had celebrated the closure of the Indian embassy in Afghanistan. But Pakistan has come to realize that India still influences Afghanistan. Moreover, heads of intelligence and security agencies of the United States, Russia and the United Kingdom are visiting India to discuss Afghanistan, which has caused turmoil in Pakistan. At the same time, the Afghan people have taken to the streets to protest Pakistan’s intervention in Afghanistan, with anti-Pakistan voices echoing in Afghan cities. Western leaders and senior officials have called for sanctions against Pakistan. Pakistani analysts are worried that this will turn their country’s ‘Game’ in Afghanistan upside down.

In such a scenario, India’s reassurance to the Afghan people that it is with the Afghan people could be a source of unrest in Pakistan.