Halting Taliban attacks focus of UNSC meeting under Indian presidency
NEW DELHI: The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) meeting on Afghanistan to be held under the Indian presidency on Friday is expected to focus on stopping the Taliban’s campaign of violence and attacks and ways to take forward the stalled Afghan peace process.
India’s ambassador to the UN, TS Tirumurti announced the meeting, which will consist of a briefing and consultations on the latest developments in Afghanistan, in a tweet on Thursday. India holds the rotating presidency of the Security Council for August.
The move came two days after Afghan foreign minister Mohammad Haneef Atmar called his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar on Tuesday and sought an emergency session of the Security Council to discuss ways to halt the Taliban’s violence and atrocities across Afghanistan. “UN #Securitycouncil will meet on Friday, 6th August, under Indian Presidency to discuss and take stock of the situation in #Afghanistan,” Tirumurti tweeted.
The meeting was convened 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.
The Afghan side is expecting the 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 ways to give a nudge to the Afghan peace process that has been stalled for months, the people said.
“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 person cited above said.
“Also, there is no tangible progress in the peace process because of the Taliban’s intransigence. It is costing Afghanistan in terms of lives, infrastructure, revenues and the gains made in the past 20 years,” the person added.
Though there was some talk of a possible resolution on the situation and the Taliban violence, the people said this might not be among the outcomes of the meeting. While Afghanistan’s partners will try to pressure the Taliban and its supporters in Pakistan, the feeling is that China, a permanent member of the Security Council, will step in to counter any move that is critical of Pakistan.
Avinash Paliwal, associate professor in the department of politics and international studies at SOAS University, said: “The UN Security Council has its own dynamics, but to have India as president at this point in time is the last thing Islamabad and the Taliban would have wanted.”