Islamic Emirate Spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid in reaction to a remark by the Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said Afghan soil is not a threat to any country, adding current leadership is paving the way for “political opponents” to return.
This came a day after Singh, during a conclave of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Tashkent Wednesday, exclaimed that the member states should encourage Afghanistan’s authorities to achieve national reconciliation through dialogue and establish an inclusive political structure.
Afghan territory must not be used to intimidate or attack any country by providing safe havens to terrorists, supporting their activities through financial assistance, he added.
But Mujahid defying the remarks by the Indian Defense Minister said there will be no threat from the Afghan soil to any country, adding such is a national responsibility and they are paying close attention to the matter.
“The Islamic Emirate is obliged to provide security all over Afghanistan, to protect itself and its people, and to prevent Afghanistan from being a place from which any country would feel threatened. This is our national responsibility, and we are paying more attention to this” he said.
Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh speaks during a conclave of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Tashkent Wednesday, August 24, 2022. (PHOTO: Social Media)
Meanwhile, a number of political analyst support the inclusive government in Afghanistan, saying this could build trust among various sect in the country, preventing tensions among Afghans.
“The inclusive government can create trust among Afghanistan’s tribes and prevent the tensions which are plaguing the government now and will in the future,” said Barna Salehi, a political analyst, as TOLOnews quoted.
“Inclusivity means to appoint experts and people with good backgrounds to the government departments,” said Mohammad Matin Mohammad Khail, another political analyst.
Since 2012, Afghanistan has been in the process of gaining membership to the SCO but is yet to be recognized as a permanent member of this organization. After the Islamic Emirate swept into power, however, no representative from Afghanistan has participated in any of the SCO summits.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is an intergovernmental organization founded in Shanghai on 15 June 2001. The SCO currently comprises eight Member States: China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Four Observer States, which includes Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran, and Mongolia; and six “Dialogue Partners”, including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Turkey interested in acceding to full membership.
In 2021, the decision was made to start the accession process of Iran to the SCO as a full member, and Egypt, Qatar as well as Saudi Arabia became dialogue partners.