AKIPRESS.COM - India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations TS Tirumurti on Wednesday said that developments in Afghanistan will have wider ramifications to the Central Asia region even as he pitched for Chabahar Port as the gateway to the region, The Economic Times reported.

Participating in UN Security Council open debate on "Cooperation between the UN and the Regional and Sub-Regional Organizations in Maintenance of International Peace and Security: Cooperation between the United Nations and Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO)", he said, "The developments in Afghanistan will have wider ramifications to the Central Asia region, particularly the possible growth in international terrorism and drug trafficking emanating from the Afghan territory". It may be recalled that CSTO played an important role in controlling terrorist acts in Kazakhstan in January.

CSTO consists of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan, and celebrating the 20th anniversary of its establishment.

UN Security Council Resolution 2593 reflects the expectations of the international community that Afghan soil should not be used for sheltering, training, planning, or financing terrorist acts.

"The international community need to take cognizance of the concerns which Central Asian countries have on developments in Afghanistan," said the Indian envoy.

"Regional and sub-regional organizations, have time and again shown how important their role is in the maintenance of international peace and security. They have an important role in the settlement of disputes, especially in conflict situations," he said.

"We, therefore, support active engagement between the UN and regional and sub-regional organizations, and in line with the Charter of the UN," said the Indian envoy.

He also noted the ongoing cooperation between the UN and CSTO based on 2010 Joint Declaration. The United Nations Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia has also contributed further to strengthening cooperation on issues of shared interest and concern, mainly terrorism, violent extremism, and drug trafficking. "In the spirit of our development partnership with Central Asian region, India offered, inter alia, USD 1 billion Line of Credit for priority developmental projects.

India is also providing grant assistance for the implementation of High Impact Community Development Projects (HICDP) for furthering socio-economic development in the countries of the region.

"We have created India-Central Asia Dialogue platform for strengthening cooperation between India and the Central Asian countries," added Tirumurti.

India's steps to modernize the infrastructure of the Chabahar port in Iran, which will become an important link in trade and transport communications between the markets of Central and South Asia, has been appreciated by Central Asian countries.