Will ensure stability in Afghanistan through democratic process: India at UN

India's envoy to the UN called for dismantling terrorist safe havens in the region and disrupting their supply chains for restoring peace in Afghanistan.

India's permanent representative to United Nations TS Tirumurti said on Friday that New Delhi would continue to stand with Kabul in ensuring that peace and stability are restored in the troubled nation through a "legitimate and transparent democratic process that is essential for the long-term stability of Afghanistan and the region."

TS Tirumurti, India's permanent representative to the UN, said those providing material and financial support to terrorist entities must be held accountable. (File photo)

"We will continue to provide all support to Afghanistan in realising their aspirations for a peaceful, democratic and prosperous future, free of terror, where the rights and interests of all sections of the Afghan society are promoted and protected," Tirumurti said.

The Indian envoy stressed the urgency to ensure that the territory of Afghanistan is not used by terrorist groups to threaten or attack any other country.

"There needs to be zero tolerance for terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. It is equally important to ensure that Afghanistan is not used by terrorist groups to threaten or attack any other country," the Indian ambassador told the briefing of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

"Those providing material and financial support to terrorist entities must be held accountable. We, as the international community, must ensure that our commitments to Afghanistan, including to its various institutions, are maintained," Tirumurti said during his address to the United Nations.

Tirumurti also pressed that terrorist safe havens and sanctuaries in the region are immediately dismantled and their supply chains disrupted to restore peace in Afghanistan. "It needs to be ensured that Afghanistan’s neighbours and the region are not threatened by terrorism, separatism and extremism. There needs to be zero tolerance for terrorism in all its forms and manifestations," India's permanent representative to the UN stressed.

Expressing concerns over the security situation in Afghanistan, the top Indian diplomat said, "As a neighbour of Afghanistan, the current situation prevailing in the country is of great concern to us. The violence shows no signs of abating."

Tirumurti laid stress on a UN report to outline that civilian casualties and targeted killings have reached record levels. "Even the UN compound hasn't been spared, the residence of defence minister of Afghanistan has been attacked...an Indian journalist was murdered while he was reporting on the situation in the countries. Meanwhile, fighting continues in Helmand and Herat even as over 100 Afghan civilians were mercilessly killed in Spin Boldak," he told the UNSC.

Tirumurti highlighted that the rapid deterioration of the security situation in Afghanistan constitutes a threat to regional peace and stability.