New Delhi, October 30
India has made clear that “the Taliban have no place in a future government in Afghanistan”.

The country’s opposition to Taliban’s participation in any future Afghan government was disclosed by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajapyee at the two-hour all-party meeting today.

The Prime Minister appealed to all political parties to make efforts for ensuring communal peace, amity and harmony and said the Centre was asking the state governments to take strict action against those who tried to disturb peace and harmony.

Stating that the “sporadic” incidents in Malegaon, Hyderabad and Delhi were a warning, the Prime Minister asked the states to take sternest measures against anyone indulging in provocative actions. “We should nip such incidents in the bud,” he said.

The government agreed with the view of the Opposition that the war going on in Afghanistan was in no way a war against Islam or any other religion and was also not a clash between civilisations.

The ruling NDA parties also shared the concerns of the Opposition that the USA should take care that innocent citizens and NGOs like the Red Cross did not become the targets of the US bombardments, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pramod Mahajan said while briefing newspersons about the meeting.

The Prime Minister has expressed India’s view on developments in Afghanistan in a letter that he has written to 12 world leaders, including US President George W.Bush, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Jiang Zemin, French President Jacques Chirac and the Prime Ministers of Germany, the United Kingdom, Japan and Italy along with the Presidents of Iran, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.

“You are well aware that as a country in Afghanistan’s immediate neighbourhood, India has important concerns about the political, economic and socio-cultural developments in that country. We agree with the widely accepted view that the Taliban have no place in a future government in Afghanistan”, Mr Vajpayee said in his letter.

“The government should be broad based, with equitable representation of different ethnic and religious groups. A constitutional and legal structure needs to be established to adequately protect human rights, including the rights of women and minorities. The integration of different armed groups into an effective national military and police force is critical,” the Prime Minister said, adding, “it is also in the crucial interest of the entire international community that the future political structure in Afghanistan does not export terrorism or extremism”.

The all-party meeting, which was addressed by External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh and all Opposition leaders, was of the unanimous view that developments in Afghanistan should not be allowed to disturb communal harmony and peace in the country, Mr Mahajan said.

Replying to points raised by the Opposition leaders, the External Affairs Minister said India was in touch with countries of the Commonwealth, NAM and others from Asia and Africa for mobilising international opinion on Afghanistan. “We are also in contact with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the US Special Envoy on Afghanistan”, he said.

The CPM and Samajwadi leaders raised the promulgation of POTO and said that the government did not take them into confidence, Mr Mahajan said in reply to a question.

Mr Mahajan said that the government was of the view that such a law was the need of the hour and the POTO had been promulgated keeping the requirements in view.