United Nations, Sep 28 (FN Bureau) India reiterated the importance of combating terrorism in Afghanistan and cautioned against narratives to justify terrorism, in the wake of Pakistan pushing aggressively for recognition to the Taliban government in Kabul. During talks between Reenat Sandhu, Secretary West in the Ministry of External Affairs, and Vladimir Voronkov, Under-Secretary-General at the UN Office of Counter terrorism, the talks focused on Afghanistan as well as on the terrorism landscape, and on countering the financing and travel of terrorists. Sandhu also reiterated India’s support for the UN counter-terrorism mechanisms and the UN Global Counter Terrorism Strategy. In a tweet, Sandh said: “Delighted to meet USG @UN_OCT Voronkov. “Reiterated support for UN counter-terrorism mechanisms & UN Global Counter Terrorism Strategy “Cautioned against narratives to justify terrorism “Reiterated importance of combating terrorism in Afghanistan.”
Sandhu’s comments come days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at the UNGA that it is absolutely essential to ensure that Afghanistan’s territory is not used to spread terrorism or for terror attacks on any other country, and, without naming Pakistan, said countries that along with regressive thinking use terrorism as a political tool should understand that terrorism would bite them too. He also said: “We also need to be alert and ensure that no country tries to take advantage of the delicate situation in Afghanistan, and use it as a tool for their own selfish interests,” in another apparent reference to Pakistan, which has been accused of harbouring, sheltering and guiding the Taliban who now rule Kabul. Imran Khan in his address to the UNGA last week urged the international community to give the Taliban “a chance to prove themselves”. Many among the Taliban leadership, including the top four – the prime minister, the defence, foreign and interior ministers, besides others are UN proscribed terrorists.
On the meeting with Sandhu, the UN Office of Counter Terrorism tweeted that Voronkov thanked India for support to the UN’s programmes including the Countering Terrorist Travel, Counter-Financing of Terrorism, and the Victims of Terrorism Support Programme. He said the two sides discussed the terrorism landscape, and the outcomes of the Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy review and Counter-Terrorism cooperation. “Meeting with Ext. Affairs Secretary (West) @reenat_sandhu, USG @UN_OCT Voronkov thanked India for support to CFT CTTravel and Victims of Terrorism programmes “Discussed terrorism landscape, outcomes of the GCTS Review & CT cooperation.” The UN General Assembly reviews the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy (GCTS) every two years, making it a living document attuned to Member States’ counter-terrorism priorities.