India on Thursday told the United Nations that the Taliban should adhere to its commitments and not use Afghan soil to foster terrorism, PTI reported.
India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations TS Tirumurti was speaking at the United Nations Security Council Debate on Afghanistan.
In August, India had taken over the rotating presidency of the security council for a month. Presidency of the Security Council rotates between 15 of its members in an alphabetical order. During its term India aimed to discuss counter-terrorism and peacekeeping issues on priority.
On August 30, the last day of India’s presidency, the UN body had adopted a resolution urging the Taliban to keep its commitments on preventing terror groups in Afghanistan. The resolution also called on the insurgent group to allow safe passage for those who want to leave the country.
It was the first resolution passed by the UNSC on Afghanistan since Taliban took control of the country on August 15.
The resolution said that it expected that the Taliban would not train, finance or shelter the terror groups or individuals listed under Resolution 1267.
Resolution 1267, passed in 1999, holds significance as it mentions terror groups Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Jaish-e-Mohammad. India has for long maintained that the Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Jaish-e-Mohammad are groups involved in cross-border terrorism from Pakistan.
Meanwhile on Thursday, UN Secretary General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, Deborah Lyons, pointed out that of the 33 men presented by the Taliban in its interim government, many are on the world body’s sanctions list.
Those on the sanctions list includes the prime minister, the two deputy prime ministers and the foreign minister.
“All of you will need to decide which steps to take regarding the sanctions list, and the impact on future engagement,” Lyons said.
The Taliban’s all-male interim government is being led by Prime Minister Mullah Mohammad Hasan Akhund, who also acts as the chief of the Taliban’s decision-making body, Rehbari Shura.
Sirajuddin Haqqani, who is wanted by the United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation for links to the terrorist group Al Qaeda, was appointed as the interior minister. Al Qaeda is also defined as a terror outfit under the Resolution 1267.
The Islamic State-Khorasan, which claimed the responsibility of the attack on the Kabul airport on August 26, also features on the UN’s list of terror outfits. Over a 100 people died after the ISIS-K launched rockets at the airport.
“As witnessed from the deplorable terrorist attack at Kabul Airport in August, terrorism continues to pose a serious threat to Afghanistan,” Tirumurti said. “It is therefore important that commitments made in this regard are respected and adhered to.”
The Taliban’s statement on allowing Afghan citizens to travel abroad without problems was also noted under the Resolution 2593, PTI reported.
“We hope that these commitments will be adhered to, including the safe, secure, and orderly departure from Afghanistan of Afghans and all foreign nationals,” Tirumurti said.
He also requested the international community to help the citizens of Afghanistan to bring peace, stability and security to the region.
“We need to enable all Afghans, including women, children and minorities, to live in peace and dignity,” he said.
Afghanistan crisis
Afghans have been protesting against the Taliban ever since the group formed the government in September, three weeks after it captured the capital city of Kabul on August 15.
As the Taliban steadily conquered the provinces, the United States and several other countries evacuated their troops. Thousands of Afghan citizens have since then continued to make desperate attempts to flee the Taliban regime.
Over the last three weeks, the insurgent group consolidated its power by capturing the remaining districts. On Monday, they claimed to have captured Panjshir – Afghanistan’s resistance stronghold and the last of the 34 provinces that the Taliban was yet to penetrate.
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