NEW DELHI, May 2: India pledged on Friday to take up with world leaders the reported threat to two ancient Buddha statues from the radical Taliban militia in Central Afghanistan.

Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral told parliament that India was concerned about the threat and would discuss ``the matter with world leaders to protect the statues.''

``The statues were a rare piece of world heritage and should be protected at any cost,'' the Prime Minister said.

Gujral made the comments after a Hindu nationalist, Vijay Kumar Malhotra, raised the issue in parliament. The statues are located close to Bamian province, the base of the Hezb-I-Wahdat faction representing Afghanistan's Shiite Muslim community.

International concern over the relics was triggered after a Taliban commander last month warned they would be razed if the militia broke through Shiite lines and entered Bamian.

India does not recognise the Taliban regime in Kabul.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.