Afghan Militants get support from beyond its borders- UN Ambassador Bhagwant Bishnoi

UNITED NATIONS: India has told the UN Security Council that terrorist groups threatening Afghanistan's peace and stability continue to benefit from support from beyond its borders that enable them to survive despite immense military pressure.

India's Acting Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Bhagwant Bishnoi said in a Security Council debate on the assistance mission for Afghanistan here yesterday that the international community cannot afford to lose sight of the fact that the main threat to peace and stability in Afghanistan is terrorism.

"That terrorist and extremists groups have continued to survive despite the immense military pressure that is being brought on them by the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) only underscores the fact that these groups continue to benefit from support from beyond Afghanistan's borders, and continue to access resources from transnational terrorist and criminal networks," he said.

Referring to the terror attacks in Kabul, Sydney and Peshawar, Bishnoi said such incidents only underline the fact that "terrorists do not respect borders, and make no differentiation between states. They pose a common threat to humanity."

Bishnoi reiterated India's commitment to helping Afghanistan in its critical decade of transformation saying that a united, stable, prosperous and independent Afghanistan is in the interest of the region and the international community.

India is presently in discussion with the governments of Afghanistan and Iran to examine how the existing Port of Chabahar in Iran can be developed to support more effective transit agreements between Afghanistan and its immediate neighbours, he said.

"We feel that when this project takes off, there will be significant immediate gains for reconstruction activities in the western regions of Afghanistan," he added.