Presently no talks on receiving military assistance from India, will certainly ask if need arises: Afghan envoy Mamundzay

New Delhi [India], July 30 (ANI): Afghan Ambassador to India Farid Mamundzay on Friday said that his country is receiving sufficient support from the United States and several NATO member states and will certainly ask for Indian military assistance if the need arises.

The envoy’s remarks come amid a surge in violence by the Taliban in the wake of withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan. Responding to a question on military assistance from India Mamundzay said, “There are currently no talks with regard to receiving any military assistance from India as we are receiving sufficient support from the US and several NATO member-states.”

“Should we get to a stage where Indian-military assistance is required, we would be certainly asking for it,” the Afghan foreign envoy told ANI in an interview. India has provided assistance to Afghanistan to rebuild itself from decades-long civil strife. India used its “soft power” to rebuild the war-ravaged nation since the Taliban government was ousted in 2001. India is the largest regional donor to Afghanistan, providing some USD 3 billion in assistance since the Taliban Government was ousted in 2001.

This assistance has funded, among other things, the building of more than 200 schools in Afghanistan, over 1 000 scholarships for Afghan students, and the possibility for roughly 16 000 Afghans to study in India. India has also provided assistance in the construction of critical infrastructures, such as around 4 000 km of roadways in Afghanistan, most notably the Zaranj-Dilaram Highway, the Salma Dam and electricity transmission lines and the Afghan parliament building.

India is the regional partner to help maintain peace and development in Afghanistan, which has been involved in decades-long  conflict. Meanwhile, over the past few weeks, Afghanistan has witnessed a surge in violence with the Taliban intensifying their offensive against civilians and Afghan security forces with the complete pullback of foreign forces just a few weeks away.

A UN report said that terrorists from a variety of countries and militant groups continue to operate in Afghanistan. The 28th report of the UN Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team said that Pakistan-based terror group Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has maintained ties with the Taliban as about 6,000 of its terrorists are on the Afghan side of the border. Moreover, 10,000 Pakistani terrorists have entered Afghanistan, said the Afghan government, adding that the Taliban terrorists are trained by a Pakistani institution and are financed by Islamabad.

A spokesman for President Ashraf Ghani said in a video message sent to media that thousands of terrorists enter Afghanistan from Pakistan to carry out the country’s proxy war. (ANI)