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UNSC meeting: Focus on Taliban violence in Afghanistan
The closed meeting on Afghanistan is the first item on the agenda of the Security Council for Friday. The Afghan government expects the body to take up two pressing issues – stopping the Taliban’s campaign of violence and attacks and taking forward the stalled Afghan peace process
The massive spike in violence by the Afghan Taliban and the role of the group’s sponsors and supporters will be in focus when the UN Security Council meets under the Indian presidency on Friday to discuss the situation in Afghanistan.
The closed meeting on Afghanistan is the first item on the agenda of the Security Council for Friday. The Afghan government expects the body to take up two pressing issues – stopping the Taliban’s campaign of violence and attacks and taking forward the stalled Afghan peace process.
The meeting, to be held at 10am New York time (7.30pm IST), will consist of a briefing and consultations on the latest developments in Afghanistan. India, which holds the rotating presidency of the Security Council for August, has consistently called for an immediate cessation of violence and a comprehensive ceasefire while steps are taken to advance the intra-Afghan dialogue to find a political settlement.
An announcement about the Security Council meeting was made two days after Afghan foreign minister Mohammad Haneef Atmar called his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar on Tuesday and sought an emergency session of the UN body to discuss ways to halt the Taliban’s violence and atrocities across Afghanistan.
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The meeting was arranged following consultations with the five permanent and nine other non-permanent members of the Security Council, people familiar with developments said on condition of anonymity.
Though some efforts were made to gauge the possibility of adopting a resolution on the situation and the Taliban violence, the people said this might not be among the outcomes of the meeting. Afghanistan’s partners will seek to pressure the Taliban and its supporters in Pakistan, but the feeling is that China, a permanent member of the Security Council, will step in to counter any move critical of Pakistan.
According to an Indian assessment, supply lines for the Taliban from the Pakistani side continue to be open and the group continues to get logistics and other support from Pakistan’s military establishment. There have been several reports of large caches of ammunition and new weaponry being found at Taliban bases captured by Afghan forces.
During a briefing for foreign envoys in Kabul on Tuesday, Atmar had referred to the continuing links between the Taliban and groups such as Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
Atmar said Taliban attacks were being carried out in “direct collusion with more than 10,000 regional terrorists” from LeT, TTP, al-Qaeda, Ansarullah, Jundallah, East Turkestan Islamic Movement and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.
The Afghan side is hoping the UN Security Council meeting will focus on the Taliban’s violation of commitments under the 2020 agreement with the US through the group’s ongoing campaign of violence and attacks, and the support being provided to the group by the Pakistani side.
“There is a need for pressure on the Taliban and their sponsors to reduce the violence. It is clear who is backing the violence and supporting the Taliban,” one of the people cited above said.
The Security Council will meet days before two more crucial meetings on Afghanistan to be held in Qatar. Russia has convened a meeting of the “extended troika”, which includes China, the US and Pakistan, in Doha on August 11, while Qatar will host another meeting between the Afghan side and its regional and international partners this month.
Afghan ambassador Farid Mamundzay, while welcoming the UN Security Council meeting, thanked India for playing a “lead role as UNSC President”.
“Convening an emergency UN Security Council Session on Afghanistan is a positive development. UN & international community must play a greater role to stop the unfolding tragedy in [Afghanistan] due to violence & atrocities by terrorists,” Mamundzay tweeted.
External affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said India will share its vision and perspectives on Afghanistan during the meeting. “We are closely monitoring the evolving security situation in Afghanistan and we continue to call for an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire,” he said.
