NEW DELHI, Nov 19: Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Sunday that New Delhi would not be deterred by Afghanistan's Taliban militants who want Indian workers to leave the country.
"The objective of these people (Taliban) is to see that India withdraws from developmental activities in Afghanistan. (But) we refuse to succumb to these pressures from Taliban," Mr Mukherjee said. He was addressing a joint press conference with Afghan Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta to end a two-day international conference on Afghanistan.
Mr Mukherjee was asked about threats faced by Indians engaged in reconstruction work in Afghanistan. Two Indians -- an engineer working on a telecom project and a driver working on a road project -- have already been killed by suspected Taliban militants.
"Our commitment to development of Afghanistan is firm," Mr Mukherjee said, adding paramilitary forces had been provided to Indians engaged in development work in that country. Security was being provided to them in cooperation with Afghan authorities.
Asked whether India would send its army for peace-keeping in Afghanistan, Mr Mukherjee said no such request had been received, nor would it be feasible in the near future.
