On poll eve, Afghanistan seeks more pro active role by India

“Unfortunately we see infiltration into Afghanistan from across the border. We still see threats coming from there,” he said.

Seeking strong resolve to dismantle terror infrastructure, he said, “We have requested international allies that Afghanistan should be helped in addressing the problem of terrorism that needs us to go beyond Afghanistan.”

“Certainly,” Abdali replied when asked whether Pakistan was influencing Taliban not to join the peace process.  

“There is no point of denial as to where Talibans are nurtured, where they are kept. I think it is no more a secret that Talibans are influenced by certain elements in our neighbourhood, it's clear,” he said.

The Ambassador said though Pakistan Prime Minister had stated that he wanted a peaceful and stable Afghanistan, his words have not been translated into action.  

“Nawaz Sharif on number of occasions has expressed his position, which is different from any other government, to say that they want a peaceful and stable Afghanistan and they want to have no interference in Afghanistan. We would like to see those words into action.

“We would like to see cooperation that is visible and that cooperation should be in a manner and in form to see the Taliban to be brought by them to the table,” he said.  

Asked about expectations from the new government in India after the elections, he said the ties between the two countries will not depend on which political party comes to power.

But at the same time, he added that there was need to move away from “traditional conservative politics to a pragmatic approach by both countries” to deal with the challenges.

On withdrawal of foreign forces this year, he said over 350,000 Afghan forces have taken responsibility of security in the country and they were capable of it.