names Pakistan-based terror groups

A message for 'neighbours' of Afghanistan

Strengthening connectivity with Afghanistan

NEW DELHI: Strong action against terror groups involved in high level of violence in the South Asia region - including Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Muhammad - was demanded by the Heart of Asia (HoA) conference in Amristar, with India and Afghanistan launching a stinging attack on a virtually isolated Islamabad for sponsoring and supporting terrorism.Combating terrorism was at the "core" of discussions at the annual HoA conference, which is meant to focus on efforts to reconstruct and stablise war-torn Afghanistan. However, it could not firm up an Afghanistan-initiated proposal to set up a regional framework to counter the menace as many countries had not given their inputs.Attended by some 40 countries, the two-day conference concluded with a strong declaration calling for concerted regional and international cooperation to ensure elimination of terrorism as well as dismantling of terrorist sanctuaries and safe havens in region as also disrupting all financial, tactical and logistical support for terror networks.Stopping short of directly naming Pakistan in his speech at the meet, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said "resolute action" was needed not just against forces of terrorism, but also against "those who support, shelter, train and finance them", asserting that terrorism and externally induced instability pose the gravest threat to Afghanistan's peace, stability and prosperity.Modi also asked the international community to "demonstrate strong collective will to defeat terror networks that cause bloodshed and spread fear" as "silence and inaction" against terrorism in Afghanistan and in the region "will only embolden terrorists and their masters."Afghan President Ashraf Ghani directly blamed Pakistan for "launching an undeclared war" against his country and demanded an Asian or international regime to verify Pakistan- sponsor terror operations.Snubbing Pakistan, he said the USD 500 million pledged by it for reconstruction of Afghanistan could be used by Islamabad to check extremism."This fund Mr Aziz could very well be used to contain extremists because without peace any amount of assistance will not meet the needs of our people," he said at the meet where Pakistan Foreign Affairs Adviser Sartaj Aziz was among those present.Time has come for concrete action against terror infrastructure and those support it, Ghani asserted and quoted a top Taliban commander saying unless terror sanctuaries were allowed in Pakistan, the outfit will not last even a month.Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley - who headed the Indian delegation to the conference - 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-Qaida, Daesh, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Muhammed etc."The conferences' Amritsar declaration said that among other terror groups propagating a "high level of violence" were "the Taliban, Daesh (Islamic State) and its affiliates, the Haqqani Network, Al Qaida ... Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Muhammed, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan ... and other foreign terrorist fighters".The Amritsar declaration said its members recognised "the necessity of taking serious measures to address recruitment of youth to extremist and terrorist networks .""We realise radicalisation of youth can only be prevented by effective de-radicalisation strategies involving all Heart of Asia countries," it added.The declaration sought the early finalization of a draft Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism, and favoured an early meeting of experts to discuss a draft Regional Counter-Terrorism Framework (which was recently prepared by Afghanistan) for its early finalization.Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said - in a thinly veiled reference to Pakistan - that "neighbours" of Afghanistan had a "particular" responsibility in making sure terrorism and extremism don't find safe havens."It is ... our collective duty to ensure resurgent forces of terrorism and extremism do not find safe havens in any form or manifestation ... (the) neighbours of Afghanistan have (a) particular responsibility in this regard. Taliban, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Muhammed etc. are all terror organisations, and should be treated as such," Jaitley was quoted as saying at the Heart of Asia ministerial conference in Amritsar, by the news agency ANI."There is also a need to neither differentiate between good and bad terrorists, nor to play one group against the other," the finance minister added.New Delhi alleges that the Lashkar and Jaish have been enjoying financial and logistical support from the Pakistan government and its agencies were being used as a tool to disrupt peace in India. Pakistan denies this.Finance Minister Jaitley said that for India -. the issue of connectivity for Afghanistan - a core issue at the Heart of Asia summit - was important."India is open for developing connectivity in Afghanistan. The focus area for India is developing infrastructure. Housing and skill development are also on our agenda," he said.The Amritsar Declaration stated that Afghanistan can act as a natural land bridge in promoting regional connectivity and economic integration in the Heart of Asia region."On India's part, we are also engaged bilaterally with Afghanistan to upgrade our connectivity linkages with the aim of making Afghanistan, in the words of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a geography of peace," Jaitley said.Batting for the promoting land trade route from Amritsar, bordering Pakistan, 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."