India welcomes fall of Kabul
Wednesday, 14 November, 2001, 12:15 GMT
 
India has backed the Northern Alliance

India has welcomed the capture of the Afghan capital, Kabul, by the Northern Alliance, but says the war against terrorism is far from over.
Delhi has also backed a strong role for the UN in filling the power vacuum in Afghanistan.

Terrorism has to be completely destroyed, in whatever form it may be
 
Atal Behari Vajpayee
Correspondents say Delhi is pleased at the latest turn of events in Afghanistan, not least because the retreat of the Taleban ends for the time being, Pakistan's hopes of nurturing a friendly neighbour on one of its borders.

Speaking to journalists in the Indian capital, Delhi, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee said the international war against terrorism had made some initial gains.

But, he added, the fight against terrorism would not end with Afghanistan.

"Terrorism has to be completely destroyed, in whatever form it may be," Mr Vajpayee said.

India has been pushing for the global campaign against terrorism to be widened to include acts of violence elsewhere.

In particular, it is keen on getting international support for its fight against Islamic militants in Indian-administered Kashmir.

UN role

Mr Vajpayee would not be drawn on commenting on a future Afghan administration, saying he preferred to wait and see how the situation unfolded.

India wants support for its fight against Kashmiri militants
 
"The best arrangement, ideally, would be to have something under UN supervision," he said.

An Indian Home Affairs minister, IS Swamy, told the BBC that India was now concerned to see stability in Afghanistan through the establishment of representative government in the country.

Mr Swamy said any new government should exclude Taleban participation.

The UN Security Council is to meet on Wednesday to discuss a blueprint for a post-Taleban government in Afghanistan.

Frantic diplomatic efforts to create a broad-based government began on Tuesday after the opposition Northern Alliance swept into the capital Kabul and the Taleban fled.