India condemns terror attack on Sikhs in Afghanistan

India on Monday condemned the terror attack that killed 19 people, including 11 Sikhs, at Jalalabad in Afghanistan.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the terror strike was an attack on “multicultural fabric” of Afghanistan. He offered all assistance to President Ashraf Ghani’s government in Kabul. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is likely to meet some of the Indian relatives of the deceased Afghan Sikhs at the Ministry of External Affairs’ headquarters in New Delhi in the evening on Monday.

“We strongly condemn the terror attacks in Afghanistan yesterday. They are an attack on Afghanistan's multicultural fabric,” Modi posted on Twitter. “My thoughts are with the bereaved families. I pray that the injured recover soon. India stands ready to assist the Afghanistan government in this sad hour,” Prime Minister added.

The suicide attack on a convoy of Afghan Sikhs at Mukhabarat Square of Jalalabad in Afghanistan killed altogether 19 people on Sunday. The leaders of the minority Sikh community of Afghanistan were targeted when they were on their way to meet Afghan President, who was on a tour to Jalalabad on Sunday and inaugurated a new hospital just hours before the attack.

The deceased included 11 Afghan Sikhs. Awtar Singh Khalsa, a prominent Afghan Sikh politician, was among the slain. He was purportedly planning to contest the forthcoming parliamentary elections in Afghanistan next October. The Islamic State claimed the responsibility for the attack through an online portal known to be affiliated with it.

“The attack again underlines the need for a united global fight against international terrorism without discrimination,” the Embassy of India in Kabul said in a statement on Sunday. It also stressed the need for holding the sponsors of terrorism accountable.

“My heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims of the terror attack in Jalalabad city of Afghanistan. We are with them in this hour of tragedy,” External Affairs Minister posted on Twitter. “I am meeting their relatives today at 6 p.m. in JN Bhavan (MEA headquarters at Jawaharlal Bhavan),” she added.