New Delhi [India], June 9 (ANI): Reaffirming India's commitment to the welfare of the Afghan people, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Tuesday said New Delhi remains focused on fostering peace, stability and development in Afghanistan through sustained humanitarian assistance, development cooperation and capacity-building initiatives.

Addressing the weekly media briefing when asked about the remarks made by India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Parvathaneni Harish, at a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) meeting on Afghanistan on Monday, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India's position remains unchanged and centred on supporting the Afghan people.

'We had a meeting yesterday in New York where you see the permanent representative; he made a statement on the UNAMA briefing, where we have reiterated that India and Afghanistan are contiguous neighbours and civilisational states. Our ties have spanned centuries,' Jaiswal said.

He added that India continues to support Afghanistan through initiatives related to food security, healthcare and pharmaceutical assistance, while also providing scholarships and capacity-building opportunities.

'We stand in favour of peace and stability in Afghanistan and in the region so as to foster development and stability. We talked about our development cooperation, our long-standing friendship and the development cooperation that we continue to do in Afghanistan on the side of food security, medicine, pharma support and health,' Jaiswal said.

The MEA spokesperson noted that India's development programmes benefit all sections of Afghan society, including women and children.

'In many of our development cooperation programmes, it cuts across gender; it benefits people across the board, including women and children. We have also provided scholarships and capacity-building programmes to people of Afghanistan and these will continue,' he added.

Jaiswal further said India had also reflected on peace and security-related concerns highlighted during the UN briefing and reiterated New Delhi's commitment to Afghanistan's development.

'Our position on Afghanistan remains as contained in the statement by our Permanent Representative. We want to foster peace and stability and we want to continue to work for the people of Afghanistan for their development and for their progress,' he noted.

His remarks came a day after India's Permanent Representative to the UN, Parvathaneni Harish, addressed the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) briefing at the UNSC and reaffirmed India's longstanding partnership with Afghanistan.

Harish described India and Afghanistan as 'contiguous neighbours' and 'civilisational states' whose relationship has been shaped by centuries of close ties. He said India would continue to support peace and stability in Afghanistan while strengthening development cooperation.

Highlighting India's assistance efforts, Harish said New Delhi's humanitarian and development initiatives extend across all 34 Afghan provinces through more than 500 development partnership projects focused on healthcare, public infrastructure and capacity building.

'India and Afghanistan are contiguous neighbours, and as civilisational states, our ties have spanned centuries. Our history of close cooperation continues to guide our modern-day relationship. The proud people of Afghanistan have endured a lot in this century and the Government of India will continue to stand in favour of peace and stability so as to foster development and stability in this nation. Our participation in the Doha working group meetings and our strong bilateral development partnership stand testimony to this promise,' he said.

He also detailed India's recent humanitarian support, including flood-relief supplies, vaccines for child immunisation programmes, treatment of Afghan children with congenital heart diseases in India, and infrastructure projects such as maternity clinics, oncology centres and trauma centres.

'We thank our partner agencies, including UNICEF and the Afghan Red Cross Society, in this regard. Setting up an oncology centre, a trauma centre, and the soon-to-begin installation of advanced medical devices across hospitals and the construction of a 30-bed hospital in Kabul and a thalassaemia centre in Herat will provide much-needed healthcare support,' he stated.

According to Harish, India has supplied more than 50,000 tonnes of wheat, 420 tonnes of medicines and vaccines, and 40,000 litres of pesticide to Afghanistan since August 2021. He also highlighted India's scholarship programmes for Afghan students, noting that around 3,000 students, including 1,000 Afghan women, have benefited from educational opportunities in India since 2023, with another 1,000 scholarships set to be offered soon. (ANI)