With Afghanistan facing a grave humanitarian crisis, India on Monday said it will stand by Afghans just as it did in the past. Noting that Afghanistan is passing through a "critical and challenging" phase, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also said the international community must come forward to help it.

In a virtual address at the UN high-level meeting on the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, the minister said that India has consistently supported a central role of the global body in the future of the war-torn country.

"India's own approach to Afghanistan has always been guided by our historical friendship with its people and this will continue to be the case," he added. A multilateral platform is always "more effective" than small groups of countries in building global consensus, he said.

There has been a sea change in its political, economic, social and security situation and consequently, its humanitarian needs, the minister said. Jaishankar further said that the issue of travel and safe passage that can emerge as an obstacle to humanitarian assistance be immediately sorted out.

Those who want to travel into and out of Afghanistan should be granted such facilities without obstructions, he added. "As an immediate neighbour, India is monitoring developments with understandable concerns," he said.

He said the international community must come together to create the best possible enabling environment to assist the country.