Afghanistan must not allow its soil for terrorist acts: say India and Australian leaders after 2+2 talks

Australian Foreign Minister Payne said, “Afghanistan should never again become a safe haven for terrorism.”

Addressing the media after holding the inaugural 2+2 ministerial level talks along with their defence counterparts, Rajnath Singh and Peter Dutton from Australia, EAM Jaishankar said: “We had a very detailed exchange of views on Afghanistan, and our approach is very similar.”

Both sides said the focus should remain on the United Nations Security Council resolution 2593 on Afghanistan, adopted on August 30 under India’s presidency.

“Afghanistan must not allow its soil for terrorism,” said Jaishankar.

“There were also issues of concern of the inclusiveness of the dispensation, their treatment of women and minorities,” he said, referring to the caretaker government installed by the Taliban in Kabul that has many ministers who figure in the UN Sanctions List and with no representation of women or other ethnic minorities of the country.

They also discussed issues related to travel of Afghans out of the country, and of humanitarian assistance to be provided to Afghans, he said.

“We had a good exchange of notes,” he added.

Payne said that Afghanistan should never again become a safe haven for terrorism.

Payne, who is also Minister for Women, said that "many Afghan women and girls attest to the past two decades" of development in the country “and both of us are keen that those are not wound back”.