NEW DELHI, April 30: India on Sunday described the killing of an Indian engineer, K. Suryanarayan, in Afghanistan as an act of terror and said it wanted to work with Pakistan to neutralise the Taliban militants. “The government of India is appalled by this dastardly and inhuman act of terror on the part of the Taliban and its ‘sponsors’,” Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran told a news conference.

When asked if by ‘sponsors of Taliban’ he meant Pakistan, Mr Saran skirted the question and said: “As you are aware, there have been reports that Taliban elements have been operating in the areas which straddle the Pakistan-Afghanistan border … We have also witnessed their involvement in acts of terrorism within Pakistan itself.

“This only underscores the need to recognize the Taliban and other similar outfits who profess an ideology of extremism and violence as terrorist organizations. And these must be confronted and defeated by the international community acting together; I think this includes India and Pakistan as well.”

Mr Saran pointed out that Mr Suryanarayan was killed even before an Indian team landed in Kabul on Sunday morning.

“It is obvious that the kidnappers were not interested in negotiating for his release but had premeditated his killing. The outrageous demand that all Indians should leave Afghanistan within 24 hours testifies to the real motivation behind this act of terror,” he said.