‘Shows their attitude’: India criticises Pakistan’s decision to skip NSA-level Summit on Afghanistan | Latest News India

India on Thursday criticised Pakistan’s decision to not attend Delhi Regional Security Dialogue on Afghanistan, saying it shows Islamabad’s attitude regarding the crisis in the war-torn country. In an apparent reference to Pakistan, external affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi told a regular press briefing that there have been difficulties in providing humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan due to a lack of unimpeded access.

The spokesperson highlighted that India has been extending support to Afghanistan for many years but the situation on the ground has become “very difficult” over the last few months.

“One of the key elements which we’ve seen in previous meetings was the need for unimpeded, unhindered access for humanitarian assistance providers…There have been difficulties due to lack of unimpeded access,” Bagchi added.

He said that the “very serious humanitarian situation” in Afghanistan was discussed at length during the meeting of NSAs of eight regional countries, including India, Russia, and Iran.

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Pakistan and China were invited for an NSA-level summit on the Afghanistan issue but they chose not to attend citing different reasons. While Pakistan NSA Moeed Yusuf declined the invitation saying India was being a “spoiler” in the region, China cited “scheduling” problems to skip the important meet where countries pledged to combat terrorism emanating from Afghanistan soil and called for an inclusive government in Kabul.

Pakistan has long been accused of supporting the Taliban in their fight against the West-backed Afghan government, which fell on August 15, by providing financial and military resources, a claim Islamabad has repeatedly denied.

“Pakistan was invited, they did not come. It shows their attitude over Afghanistan issue if they did not come to such important meetings,” Bagchi said.