India can help Afghan people in difficult times – Jaishankar

Surat (ANI): Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar reiterated India’s stance of an inclusive “Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled” reconciliation process to bring peace and stability to Afghanistan. Speaking at a media briefing at the Modi@20 event ‘Conversation of India’s role in global affairs’ in Surat, he said, “Tragic things are happening in Afghanistan… India cannot determine what is happening in Afghanistan, Afghans have to determine what is happening in Afghanistan. What India can do, is help Afghan people in a difficult time.”

Since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, the country is facing a severe decline in human rights, women’s rights and religious freedom.Since the Taliban took over on August 15 last year, the atrocities of Taliban officials have forced the country’s Hindu and Sikh minorities to escape persecution. Gender minorities have either fled or evacuated to other countries.

Notably, Afghan women are staring at a bleak future due to a number of restrictions imposed by the Taliban governing aspects of their lives including the denial of education to girls above 6 standard, they are not allowed to do jobs, females are no longer allowed to travel unless accompanied by men related to them and are being curtailed from wearing make-up as well as their reproductive rights.Unrecognised by most of the international community, the Taliban-led government has committed to curtailing basic human rights as the citizens of Afghanistan continue to live a miserable life in the country.