‘We Shouldn’t Let Afghanistan Down’; India Also Calls Out China, Pakistan On Connectivity

NEW DELHI: On ‘Talking Point‘, Ambassador Asoke Mukerji, India’s Former Permanent Representative to the UN, who also opened India’s first Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan Embassies in 1992 and Niva Yau Tsz Yan, Resident Researcher, OSCE Academy in Bishkek in conversation with StratNews Global Associate Editor Amitabh P. Revi. The panel analyses the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation(SCO) Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Dushanbe and the Tashkent Connectivity Conference.

The situation in Afghanistan with rapid Taliban advances was one of the major focal points at the SCO Contact Group meeting, where External Affairs Minister(EAM) Dr S. Jaishankar told his counterparts, “the world is against seizure of power by violence and force. It will not legitimise such actions…The future of Afghanistan cannot be its past. A whole new generation has different expectations. We should not let them down.” At the Tashkent Connectivity Conference, the EAM noted that ” for reliable connectivity within and through Afghanistan, the world must have confidence in its governance”. He also called out Pakistan for denying land trade transit, saying, “blocking connectivity in practice while professing support in principle benefits no one” and reiterated India’s position on the China Pakistan Economic Corridor(CPEC) as part of the Belt and Road Initiative(BRI) adding, “connectivity efforts an act of trust and must: conform to international law, respect nations’ sovereignty and territorial integrity, be based on economic viability and financial responsibility, not create debt burdens and follow standards and ensure skill and tech transfers.”