India on Thursday expressed concerns and joined several other leading countries in denouncing the Taliban's latest decision to ban university education for women in Afghanistan.
Further, India also reiterated setting up an inclusive government in the war-ravaged country that ensures equal rights of women in all aspects.
Taliban's brutal step to curtail the freedom of Afghan girls and women has been chastised by several countries including the US, Canada, France, Australia, Japan, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Earlier in March this year, the Taliban issued a decree barring girls from going to secondary schools.
India has noted with concern: MEA
While addressing a routine press conference on Thursday, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that India has noted with concern the reports in this regard.
"India has consistently supported the cause of female education in Afghanistan. We have emphasised the importance of the establishment of an inclusive and representative government that respects the rights of all Afghans and ensures the equal rights of women and girls to participate in all aspects of Afghan society, including access to higher education," he added.
The MEA spokesperson also referred to the UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 2593 on Afghanistan.
"I would also recall UN Security Council Resolution 2593, which reaffirms the importance of upholding human rights including those of women and also calls for full, equal and meaningful participation of women," he said.
What UNSC resolution says?
The UNSC resolution, adopted on August 30 last year under India's presidency of the global body, talked about the need for upholding human rights in Afghanistan, and demanded that Afghan territory should not be used for terrorism and that a negotiated political settlement should be found to the crisis.
India has been saying that it will work with international partners to counter terrorism in line with Resolution 2593.
In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of Australia, the US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Switzerland and the UK, and the high representative of the European Union strongly condemned the Taliban's decision to ban women from universities and for continuing to bar girls from secondary schools.
(With PTI inputs)
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