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Anticipated Taliban takeover but ready to deal with terrorism spilling out of Afghanistan, says CDS Rawat
Rawat also said that India anticipated the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.
Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat said that insurgency spilling out of Afghanistan into India would be dealt in a same way India deals with terrorism at present. He also said that India would welcome additional support in the form of intelligence input as it does its part in fighting the global war against terrorism.
“As far as Afghanistan is concerned, we'll make sure that any activity likely to flow out of Afghanistan and find its way into India will be dealt with in the manner in which we're dealing with terrorism in our country,” Rawat was quoted as saying at the Observer Research Foundation (ORF)’s event ‘The India-US Partnership: Securing the 21st Century’ by news agency ANI. His request was directed at the Quad nations. He was also accompanied by Command Admiral John Aquilino who is the commander of the US Indo-Pacific.
Rawat also said that India anticipated the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. India on Tuesday made it clear at the United Nation Human Rights Council session that it expects that Afghanistan’s soil won’t not be used to foment terrorist activities aimed at creating instability in the region.
Indramani Pandey, India’s permanent representative to the UN in Geneva, outlined that New Delhi expects that the rights of Afghan women, aspirations of Afghan children and the rights of minorities will be respected. India also gave shelter to Afghan refugees who fled the war-torn country after the Taliban laid siege to it.
The Taliban, however, informally requested India last week to retain its diplomatic presence in Afghanistan. Senior Taliban leader Sher Mohammed Abbas Stanekzai told Indian authorities that it was aware of India’s concerns regarding its officials and diplomats in the country, according to a report by HT. Stanekzai was responding to concerns that fighters from the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) were deployed at check posts set up by the Taliban on the route to the international airport in Kabul.
The Taliban who have full control of Afghanistan are awaiting to announce its council of ministers on August 31, the deadline day for the US and NATO troops to evacuate Afghanistan. The US Army and NATO troops, who entered the nation and once ousted the Taliban from power, have been asked by the Taliban to evacuate the country fully by August 31.
