United Nations, Sep 26 (IANS) The north of Afghanistan risks becoming a new "springboard" for the Islamic State (IS) and other international terrorist organizations, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said in his address to the UN Security Council.
"Both the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) -- a military bloc of post-Soviet republics -- and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) have focused their attention on the threats coming from Afghanistan. Among them are threats for Central Asia. The north of Afghanistan risks becoming a new springboard for IS-led international terrorist organizations," Lavrov said on Wednesday.
"Certainly, it requires relevant external assistance to Afghanistan in order to overcome those threats and challenges," he was quoted as saying by TASS news agency.
Lavrov said that "recent experience demonstrates that economic cooperation with Afghanistan cannot be implemented without an appropriate response to the threats coming from that state".
"In this context, I would like to point out that this reality is the foundation for work of the SCO-Afghanistan contact group, which is implementing the road map, approved this year, for the development of cooperation between the SCO members and Kabul," he added.
--IANS
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