India focusing on people-oriented development in Afghanistan: MJ Akbar

Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs MJ Akbar said India is focusing on people-oriented development in the war-ridden Afghanistan.

As per a press release issued by the Ministry of External Affairs on Monday, MJ Akbar attended an international conference in Tajikistan themed on Countering Terrorism and Preventing Violent Extremism on May 4 in which he reiterated Bharatiya Janata Party's slogan "Sab ka saath, Sabka Vikas".

He also underscored efforts made by India to combat terrorism in Afghanistan.

He said, "Our assistance to Afghanistan is over three billion dollars and includes, at the moment, 116 new projects in 31 provinces."

He blamed the sponsors of terrorism while saying that these people target those who are economically vulnerable and allure them to take terror-related activities.

He further highlighted three dimension of terrorism which includes, security and intelligence services, radicalization, and economic.

He said security and intelligence services of every right-minded government are engaged in countering terrorism to the best of their abilities.

" (The) second dimension is more subtle. This is the battlefield within the mind, where seeds of radicalization are being planted with profuse abandon by misleaders posing as leaders.", he added.

Finally, the third dimension is economic. He said that the shared aspiration of the young generation is equitable prosperity and called for economic equity.

Minister Akbar congratulated Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon to succeed in preventing a critical challenge of terrorism from turning into a catastrophe.

He further praised Tajikistan for successfully fighting, deferring, and reversing terrorism.

Tajikistan had banned the Islamic Rebirth Party of Tajikistan (IRPT) in 2015 and termed it a terrorist organization.