Afghanistan’s political process needs to be Afghan oriented, says Krishna
By ANIThursday, February 4, 2010
ON BOARD AIRCRAFT FROM KUWAIT - External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna on Thursday said the solution to Afghanistan’s political process lay in the hands of the Afghanis only and the solution has to be Afghan-driven and Afghan-led.
Addressing mediapersons onboard the special aircraft while returning from Kuwait, Krishna said: “We consider Taliban part of a terrorist outfit. Afghanistan is going through a very difficult process. The political process has to be carried forward and India feels that the political process in Afghanistan will have to be Afghan-driven and will have to be Afghan-led.”
If Taliban disassociates itself with al-Qaeda and abjure violence, it could be brought into mainstream political process in Afghanistan, Krishna added.
Krishna’s comments came in the wake of reports of U.S. sending in 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan to weaken the insurgency and convince the Taliban to accept a peace deal, which would require them to sever ties with al Qaeda.
“So long as Taliban disassociates itself completely from al Qaeda and other terrorist organisations and those who abjure violence, and those who subscribe to the Afghan constitution and those who go along with the democratic process under president Karzai’s leadership, then perhaps the Afghan led initiative can deal with these elements who can be brought into the mainstream of the Afghan political process,” said Krishna.
Describing his Kuwait visit quite successful, Krishna said he had taken up the issue of the Indian maids working in Kuwait during this visit and was assured speedy action by the Kuwaitian authorities.
“We have had some useful discussions with the Kuwaitian authorities so that the problems that the maids who have come from India, domestic help which have come from India, I think they need to be looked into their needs and the context in which they are functioning needs to be looked into and I’m glad that the authorities in Kuwait also share our view and I think proper registration is trying to be put in place and a mechanism is trying to be put in place,” said Krishna.
Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai has consistently made overtures to Taliban and the West has been increasingly supportive in public of proposals to lure fighters down from the ills to bring an end to years of fighting in a war now into its ninth year. By Ravinder Singh Robin (ANI)
