Kolkata: Afghanistan will never allow its territory to be used for any anti-India activity, Afghan ambassador Shaida Mohammad Abdali said here and dismissed apprehensions that withdrawal of NATO forces may allow the Taliban to make a comeback.
"We can assure that we would never allow Afghanistan to go back to the dark era of Taliban or use of its territory for any kind of anti-India activity. India is a dear friend of Afghanistan. We have paid a heavy price to make sure that Afghanistan is not a home to terrorists and anti-India elements," Abdali told PTI in an interview.
"We have fought against this menace and it will not return. No anti-India activity will again come back to our country. Afghanistan will not revert to it. It is a new Afghanistan. The Taliban has destroyed our institutions and we have done very hard work in last 13-14 years to rebuild our economy, our institutions," Adbali said.
The NATO closed its facilities in Afghanistan and handed over charge to Afghan military at the end of December, 2014, 13 years after the toppling of the Taliban regime in that country. The NATO-led force is now shifting to the reduced role of providing support as Afghanistan's newly-trained army and police take over the fight against Taliban.
Abdali's statement comes in the backdrop of apprehensions in India that there could be security implications of the withdrawal of NATO forces from Afghanistan for South Asia and other countries. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had recently said that the withdrawal of NATO forces will not only have an impact on the region but also on the US and other countries.
When asked about fears that Afghanistan might again fall prey to terrorist elements, Abdali said that the perception that exists that the withdrawal of NATO forces will lead to trouble in Afghanistan doesn't reflect the ground realities. "The perception that exists doesn't reflect the ground realities. The perception is totally baseless. The troops withdrawal from Afghanistan has been planned and it is based on Afghanistan's capacity.
We have signed strategic agreements with US and many other countries including India. Those partnerships are aimed at commitment to Afghanistan for at least next 10 years. Afghanistan is in safe hands, we have our own national army, police," Abdali said.
