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''In India, Hindus are planning to build a temple there (in Ayodhya). We haven't done anything like that,'' he said in an interview with the weekly Outlook.
He asserted that the destruction of the Buddha statues was not aimed against any religion, nation or culture. ''We haven't destroyed any church, temple or gurudwara in Afghanistan. Hindus and Sikhs are free to practice their religion.'' He claimed that Hindu and Sikh traders in Afghanistan enjoyed greater security under the Taleban than under any previous regime.
Justifying the destruction of the Buddha statues, he said that keeping and worshipping statues was ''unIslamic'' and the destruction had been undertaken because the possibility of worshipping them in future could not be ruled out. ''We don't want such a thing to happen in an Islamic country.''
He said India had accorded de facto recognition to the Taleban when External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh visited Kandahar to negotiate the release of hijacked Indian Airlines passengers in 1999.
''It was painful that the Indian Government, after thanking the Taleban for handling the hijacking in a responsible and mature way, made unfounded accusations.''
The Afghan foreign minister wanted India to recognise the Taleban regime as it controlled 95 per cent of Afghanistan territory. He said Afghanistan and India shared ties and advocated normalisation of relations on the principle of non-interference in each other's internal matters.
UNI
EXTERNAL LINK The Interview in 'Outlook'
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