United Nations, June 28: India has called for concerted action to isolate and root out the syndicate of terrorism including Al Qaeda, Taliban and Lashkar-e-Taiba, saying that terrorism supported from outside remains the principal problem in Afghanistan.

“The principal problem in Afghanistan remains the existence of terrorism, drawing upon ideological, financial and logistical support from beyond Afghanistan’s borders,” India’s Permanent UN Representative Hardeep Singh Puri said during a UN Security Council debate on Wednesday.

Puri also stressed the need to create an enabling environment where the Afghan people can live in peace and security and decide their future themselves, without outside interference, coercion and intimidation. “Moving forward, we need sustained international commitment to strengthen the Afghan government’s capacity for governance, security and economic development,” the envoy said.

“Enhanced developmental assistance and foreign investments in Afghanistan and building regional linkages are critical in ensuring an irreversible transition in that country,” he said.

India will fully supports the efforts for regional confidence-building as a critical component of international efforts as it takes forward the task of national reconciliation even while it assumes full responsibility for security. India also fully supports an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned inclusive and transparent process of reconciliation as opposed to an internationally led process, he said.

This should be accompanied by an inclusive political process and intra-Afghan dialogue, renunciation of violence, cutting of ties to terrorist groups, abiding by the Afghan constitution with its protections for human rights, including the rights of women, he said.

Puri said India saw the Delhi Investment Summit on Thursday as a critical link between the Istanbul Process and the Tokyo Conference on July 8. (IANS)