India is key to a safe and secure Afghanistan: Italy
NEW DELHI: G20 president Italy believes India has a key role as an important regional actor in ensuring a stable and secure environment in Afghanistan, and both countries are of the view that the Afghan people need immediate and unhindered access to humanitarian aid.
While any action in tackling the humanitarian crisis and preventing an economic collapse in Afghanistan will require interacting with the Taliban, such contacts wouldn’t be tantamount to recognition of the group, Italian ambassador Vincenzo de Luca said in an interview.
Speaking on the outcomes of the extraordinary meeting of G20 leaders on Afghanistan convened by Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi October 12, de Luca said his country decided to act because of a “sense of urgency with respect to a possible humanitarian catastrophe” in the war-torn country.
“Being an important regional actor, India’s involvement in consultation and coordination activities is key to ensure a stable and secure environment and effective initiatives aimed at the humanitarian assistance to Afghan people,” he said. “Italy and India share the view that Afghanistan needs immediate and unhindered access to humanitarian assistance. To this end, the continued presence of the United Nations (UN) in Afghanistan must be preserved.”
Italy will contribute through a “consistent national financial pledge” and also back initiatives by the European Union (EU), which announced a one billion euro support package for Afghanistan at the October 12 meeting. Asked about G20 leaders making it clear that they will not recognise the Taliban and the opposition to unfreezing Afghanistan’s foreign assets, de Luca said, “Any action in tackling the current situation in Afghanistan would require interacting with the Taliban... This, however, will not entail their recognition.”
Afghanistan has also been hit by a “crisis of payment system and risks the collapse of its banking system”, and this must be “urgently addressed”, he added.
The ambassador pointed to the UN’S central role in ensuring the effective distribution of aid, to Afghan people “in an efficient and non-discriminatory way”.
On the issue of the Taliban delivering on counter-terrorism commitments, de Luca pointed to the UN Security Council resolution 2593, adopted August 30 while India held the rotating presidency of the body, and said the document contained a “strong expectation that the Afghan territory is not used to threaten or attack any country or to shelter or train terrorists, or to plan or to finance terrorist acts”. “At the meeting, it was clearly reiterated that Afghanistan must not become a safe haven for terrorists and a threat to international security,” he said.
During the G20 leaders’ meeting, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for a unified response by the world community to ensure desired change in the situation in Afghanistan. However, the Chinese and Russian presidents skipped the meeting; the two countries were represented by their foreign ministers.