Stop LeT, JeM from exploiting Afghan soil for terror: India slams Pak at UNSC

India has urged the UN Security Council (UNSC) to ensure that Afghan soil is not exploited by Pakistan-based terror groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), even as it called for a “fresh approach” by the international community towards Afghanistan that goes beyond punitive measures.

Delivering India’s statement at the UNSC’s quarterly meeting on Afghanistan, Permanent Representative Parvathaneni Harish said entities and individuals designated by the council, including ISIL, Al-Qaeda and their affiliates, “must no longer be allowed to exploit Afghan territory for terrorist activities”.

At the same time, Harish stressed that sanctions alone were unlikely to deliver results and argued for “hitherto unused policy instruments” to support the Afghan people. “A business-as-usual approach is only expected to maintain the status quo… Afghanistan needs compassion and a helping hand,” he said.

He noted that India’s engagement with Afghanistan would continue with all stakeholders, and welcomed Kabul’s condemnation of the Pahalgam terrorist attack.