Observing that efforts to negotiate peace with extremists were not succeeding, India has sought a unified and robust international response to wipe out terrorism.
"Tolerating the spiral of violence is not an option," Indian representative Vikram Doraiswami told the 15-member Security Council on Tuesday, as it considered the situation in Afghanistan.
The increasing trend of suicide bombings in Afghanistan, he said, reinforces the Indian view that the efforts to negotiate peace with extremists in the more troubled provinces were not succeeding.
He stressed that it is the responsibility of the international community, particularly states in the region, to help Afghanistan emerge from war, strife and privation.
Doraiswami also told the council that consolidation of hard-won gains since the fall of 'regressive' Taliban regime 'must be a long-term strategic objective for all of us, not merely a tactical manoeuvre for the present'.
While maintaining a robust response to terrorism, he said, the international community must simultaneously focus on the 'most rapid possible' expansion of capacity in Afghanistan to deliver effective governance, development and the dividends of peace.
"The reason for this prioritisation is as simple as it is self-evident: development, good governance and other symbols of democracy are based primarily on peace and stability," he pointed out.
Expressing concern that budgetary allocation for a rapid expansion of capacity for police and army is inadequate, Doraiswami said it must be a part of the long-term strategy of the international community to enable Afghanistan to support 'appropriately-equipped, well-funded, pan-Afghan institutions of State that exercise the State's monopoly on use of force'.
"Until there is predictability and irreversibility of this process, it is unlikely that efforts to disband illegally armed groups will be taken forward meaningfully. Until Afghan forces of law and order are not fully empowered, the nexus between drug trafficking and terror cannot be broken," he told the council.
However, he had a good word for the Afghan Army which, he said, is taking 'active' part in combat operations while it is still under training.
Bilaterally, Doraiswami said, India has continued to make strenuous efforts to support reconstruction in the widest possible spectrum of activities in Afghanistan.
"Our current commitments exceed $750 million, and cover the gamut of activities, from large projects such as road construction, power transmission lines, construction and refurbishment of dams, to more locally-relevant projects such as supplying and refurbishing hospitals, schools, community organisations, cold storage plants," he added.
India, he said, is also mindful of the need to support investment in capacity building, within Afghanistan, and through the provision of over 500 scholarships a year to study in India.
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