India has told the UN Security Council that even after the concerted efforts of the international community over a decade in Afghanistan, the war-torn nation continues to face an existential threat from "syndicate of terrorism" from across the border.
"We are yet to isolate and root out the syndicate of terrorism, which includes elements of Al Qaeda, Taliban, LeT and other terrorist and extremist groups that operate with impunity from safe havens across Afghanistan's borders," said Manjeev Puri, the Acting Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations.
Cautioning the United States and its allies against arriving at a conclusion in Afghanistan, India told the UNSC that as these countries prepare to withdraw from this war-torn nation, there is no similar drawdown on the part of terrorist outfits from across the border.
"Indeed, as NATO draws down from Afghanistan claiming 'Mission nearly Accomplished', judging by the latest acts of terrorism and violence, there is no sign a similar 'drawdown' on the part of terrorist outfits across the border," Puri told the powerful 15-membered body during its special debate on the situation in Afghanistan yesterday.
Puri said the developments in Afghanistan has and will continue to affect security in the region and the world.
"We have not forgotten the terrorist havens that wreaked havoc as Afghanistan descended into chaos in the 1990s. And obviously, we do not want that to happen again," he said.
"As Afghanistan looks forward to holding Presidential and Provincial elections in April, 2014, we need to bear in mind that short-sighted approaches and quick-fixes guided by political expediency could be a recipe for unmitigated disaster," Puri said.
Any political settlement must be driven by Afghans so that it is acceptable to all sections of Afghan society and does not jeopardise the hard won gains of the last 10 years, he added.
"But most of all, we are yet to see any evidence that supports the notion of a dividing line separating Al Qaeda from other terrorist and extremist groups, or indeed, that these groups and those who support them have either had an epiphany or made a strategic reassessment of their objectives.
To us, it makes little sense to draw lines of distinction that most of these groups or their sponsors are themselves not prepared to do, either in word or deed," Puri said.
In his address Masood Khan, Pakistan's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, told the Security Council that multiple regional approaches are being pursued to deal with the complex challenges of peace, security and economic reconstruction in Afghanistan.
"In this regard, the Summit level meetings between the United Kingdom, Afghanistan, and Pakistan have been most useful," he said.
Pakistan is a non-Permanent member of the Security Council.
"We must counter terrorists' hideous narratives masqueraded as ideology; and staunch their flawed symbolism. They do not speak for Islam or Muslims," Khan added.
