The crisis in Afghanistan has a direct impact on the security of the neighbouring countries, Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted while addressing the 23rd edition of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit. The SCO summit which is being held virtually was attended by world leaders like Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
During his opening address, the Indian PM stressed on the need to continue the fight against terrorism as well as tackle the situation in Afghanistan. The land-locked country has been struggling under the Taliban regime that took over the country in 2021.
“The situation in Afghanistan has had a direct impact on the security of all of us. India’s concerns and expectations regarding Afghanistan are the same as most of the SCO Member countries,” PM Modi asserted during his speech.
He emphasised on the need to take united efforts to ensure the welfare of the people of Afghanistan. “We have to make united efforts for the welfare of the people of Afghanistan…It is important that the land of Afghanistan is not used to spread unrest in neighbouring nations or promote extremist ideologies,” PM Modi averred.
During the summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin also raised concerns about Afghanistan and stated that the situation in the conflict-stricken country is “tense”. He then went on to highlight the Russian proposal to transform SCO’s regional anti-terrorist organisation into a multi-purpose centre, so that it can address other wide-ranging issues such as extremism, religious radicalism, suppressing drug trafficking, etc.
“Traditionally, the situation in Afghanistan is the focus of the SCO attention. And our colleagues have just talked about it. The situation, which, unfortunately, is not becoming any less tense,” Putin said at the summit. “I would like to recall the Russian proposal to transform the SCO’s regional anti-terrorist organisation into a multi-purpose centre that would respond to the entire range of security threats,” he further added.
