Addressing an international seminar on Afghanistan here, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said Pakistan should control terrorist groups. She said “without this, the gains made over the past eight years will be compromised and it will become difficult to forestall the restoration of status-quo-ante, to a situation similar to what prevailed prior to 9/11”.

The challenge from a resurgent Taliban and al-Qaeda is real, and it is one that threatens us all, she said and added: “There is little doubt that success or failure in our endeavours to ensure peace, stability and development for Afghanistan has consequences that extend far beyond our own countries, or even our own generation”.