Afghan peace process should be "inclusive": India

United Nations, July 1 (PTI) India has said any
reconciliaton process in Afghanistan should be "inclusive and
transparent" and stressed that international community should
remain engaged in the war-ravaged country.
While supporting the current moves of Afghan
government to reintegrate individuals willing to abjure
violence by cutting ties with terror groups, Permanent
Representative to the UN, Hardeep Singh Puri said, "The
process must be inclusive and transparent."
Puri's remarks assumes significance as the government
led by President Hamid Karzai has started a process of
reconciliation with elements in Taliban, who are prepared to
abjure violence.
Speaking during an open debate on Afghanistan in the
Council on Wednesday said that the security of Afghanistan
impacted upon India as New Delhi was a close neighbour and had
ancient ties with the country.
"The security of Afghanistan and what happens there
impacts us, as a country in the region, as a close neighbour
and a civilisational partner whose ties with the Afghan people
stretch into antiquity," he said.
It is important also that for such a structure to be
durable and enduring, Afghanistan's neighbours, and regional
partners, will need to be in the picture - both by
consultation and by adherence to the principle of
non-interference in the country's affairs, ensuring that it
thrives as a trade and transit hub for the region, and by
eradicating transnational terrorism, Puri said.
He also told the UN that the international community
should remain engaged in Afghanistan for security and
stability, as any development in the war-ravaged country would
have an "impact" on it.
"For lasting peace and stability in Afghanistan, it
is critical that the international community remains engaged
in Afghanistan both on the security side as well as on
development and capacity building efforts," he said.
The Permanent Representative to the UN said India
supports the efforts of the Afghan Government to reintegrate
those individuals who are willing to abjure violence, do not
have ties with terrorist groups, and are willing to abide by
the values of democracy, pluralism and human rights as
enshrined in the Afghan Constitution.
"A stable and settled Afghanistan, where the rank and
file of the Taliban has given up violence against the
government, and the people, cut all links with terrorism,
subscribe to the values of the Afghan Constitution and its
laws, and where development is the hard rationale, is what we
seek and quest for," he said. PTI