By Manish Chand, IANS,
Phuket (Thailand): Reiterating its commitment to fight extremism of all kinds, India Wednesday said the despicable attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul last year will not deter it from continuing with reconstruction of the violence-torn Afghanistan.
“We have attempted to help Afghanistan in its reconstruction efforts as a means to bringing about stability in that country,” India’s External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna said at his meeting with the foreign ministers of 16 East Asian countries.
“Unfortunately our personnel and project have been regularly targeted by the Taliban,” Krishna said.
“The despicable attack on our embassy in July 2008 in which we lost a number of our people is condemnable but it will not deter us from fulfilling our commitments,” he stressed.
India’s developmental assistance to Afghanistan has exceeded $1.2 billion, covering a range of economic and social developmental activities.
Krishna also underlined the need for ensuring “peaceful or credible elections” in Afghanistan, scheduled to be held in August.
“Ensuring peaceful or credible elections in many parts of Afghanistan is going to be a major challenge. India is ready to play a constructive role as a responsible power in defeating extremism of all kinds,” he said.