India raises concerns over attacks on minorities in Afghanistan

Addressing a UNSC Briefing, India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ruchira Kamboj said that New Delhi is highly alarmed by such attacks on minority communities.

"India's immediate neighbourhood has also been witness to a spate of terror incidents recently. The series of attacks at the religious places of the minority community, including the recent attack at the Sikh Gurudwara on June 18 in Kabul followed by another bomb explosion near the same Gurudwara on 27 July is highly alarming," she said during the UNSC briefing on Threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts.

India's Permanent Representative referred to the recent findings of the 1988 Sanctions Committee's Monitoring Team's Report which points to a significant increase in the presence of ISIL-K in Afghanistan and their capacity to carry out attacks.

"ISIL-K, with its base reportedly in Afghanistan, continues to issue threats of terrorist attacks on other countries," ambassador Kamboj said.

The Indian diplomat said the linkages between groups listed by the UNSC such as the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and the Jaish-e-Mohammed as well as provocative statements made by other terrorist groups operating out of Afghanistan pose a direct threat to the peace and stability of the region.

"We, therefore, need to see concrete progress in ensuring that such proscribed terrorists, entities, or their aliases do not get any support, tacit or direct, from the terror sanctuaries, which also are based in the same region," she said.

India's Permanent Representative also pointed out that it is indeed puzzling that the Secretary-General's report chose not to take notice of the activities of the several proscribed groups in this region, especially those that have been repeatedly targeting India.

"Selective filtering of inputs from member states is uncalled for," she said and added that India hopes that in future iterations of SG's reports, inputs from all member states would be treated on an equal footing.

Ambassador Kamboj said that India appreciates the efforts of the countries of the region to take measures to combat this menace and call upon the international community and the UN to support these efforts without any caveats. (ANI)