NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India said Monday that it would provide shelter to minorities from Afghanistan if they fled from the austere vision of Islam being implemented by the country's Taliban rulers.
External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh told a news conference that India and the international community were ''deeply troubled'' by the Taliban's plan to force Hindus to wear identifying yellow badges.
The Taliban say they are attempting to protect the estimated 1,700 Hindus from the religious police, who impose rules on Muslim Afghans, such as herding them to the mosque for prayers.
Singh said India had accepted a large number of Afghan nationals over the years and stood ready to accept minorities who did not want to subscribe to Taliban decrees.
``India will certainly provide them full shelter,'' he said.
The minister said the creation of the Taliban was ``one of the most terrible legacies of the ending years of the Cold War.''