No need to differentiate between good and bad terrorists: Jaitley

AMRITSAR: India has pressed for collective efforts to ensure resurgent forces of terrorism and extremism do not find sanctuaries and safe havens in any name, form or manifestation.

Neighbours of Afghanistan have a particular responsibility in this regard, union finance minister Arun Jaitley said at the Heart of Asia conference in Amritsar.

“There is also a need to neither differentiate between good and bad terrorists, nor to play one group against the other,” said Jaitley, who chaired the ministerial meeting.

Addressing the press, Jaitley said that for the first time, a Heart of Asia declaration expressed concern at the violence caused in Afghanistan and the region by terrorist groups like Al-qaeda, Daesh, Lashkare-Toiba and Jaish e-Mohammed.

He termed terrorism as a centre stage issue at the conference and said the discussions reiterated the support from the Heart of Asia countries for Afghanistan’s efforts to use its geographic location to enhance wider regional economic cooperation.

“Specific initiatives in this regard, including the IndiaIran-Afghanistan Trilateral Agreement on developing Chabahar, were acknowledged,” he said.

India is also looking at ways to upgrade its connectivity linkages to Afghanistan.

“During the conference, various delegations expressed appreciation for the constructive role that India has been playing in supporting Afghanistan and its people in the past decade and a half,” he said.

He said the choice of Amritsar as the venue for the conference was a deliberate one intended to highlight the immense potential for regional connectivity and the benefits that it can bring to landlocked Afghanistan.