India today said, Afghanistan still faced an existential threat from terrorism emanating from beyond its border and asked the international community to provide substantial assistance to the war-torn nation that has experienced externally-imposed conflicts for three decades.
Addressing the Tokyo Conference on Afghanistan, External Affair Minister S M Krishna said, clear and visible support to Afghanistan is crucial in order to preserve the gains made by the international community and Afghan men and women in the past decade. He asked the international community to avoid temptation to lay down conditionalities on such assistance.
India, Mr. Krishna said believes that good governance is crucial to the building of a strong and legitimate state. But good governance also requires a strong state that has full control over its territory. This is not yet the case in Afghanistan. He appreciated the Mutual Accountability Framework that has been drafted for the Conference as a noble effort. At the same time, Mr. Krishna said India believes that true mutuality can only be achieved at equal levels of capacity.
The Tokyo conference is being attended by around 70 countries and international organisations. The main aim of the meet, which follows the series of conferences organised on Afghanistan during the last one year, include ensuring sustainable development of Afghanistan beyond 2012 and reaffirming partnership between the international community and the Afghan Government until 2014 and during the transformation decade 2015-2024.
Meanwhile External Affairs Minister S M Krishna will meet his Pakistani counterpart Hina Rabbani Khar in Tokyo today on the sidelines of a conference on Afghanistan. He is expected to raise the issue of terrorism following revelations by LeT handler Syed Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal on the 2008 Mumbai carnage. Such a meeting between the two ministers comes after recent talks between their Foreign Secretaries on the crucial issues of peace and security, including terrorism, Jammu and Kashmir and promotion of friendly exchanges.
