Members of the United Nations Security Council made it clear on Friday that the international community would not accept any Taliban-imposed government in Afghanistan, even as India called for the dismantling of terror safe havens and sanctuaries in Pakistan.
Deborah Lyons, the UN secretary-special general’s representative, told a Security Council meeting held under the Indian presidency to discuss the situation in Afghanistan that the country was at a “dangerous turning point” as a result of the Taliban’s massive campaign of violence and attacks.
The majority of the Security Council’s 15 permanent and non-permanent members opposed any military takeover of the Taliban, and representatives from France and the United States said that failure to end the violence would jeopardise further exemptions from sanctions on Taliban leaders, particularly for travel.
India is the Security Council’s rotating presidency for August, and it played a key role in organising the meeting on Afghanistan. TS Tirumurti, India’s UN envoy, cited a rise in Taliban attacks and violence, including a suicide attack on the Afghan defence minister’s home and the assassination of Indian journalist Danish Siddiqui, and said the security situation is rapidly deteriorating, posing a “serious threat to regional peace and stability.”
“For enduring peace in Afghanistan, terrorist safe havens and sanctuaries in the region must be dismantled immediately, and terrorist supply chains disrupted,” Tirumurti said, clearly referring to Pakistan. It must be ensured that terrorism, separatism, and extremism do not pose a threat to Afghanistan’s neighbours and the region.”
He called for “zero tolerance” for all forms of terrorism, as well as ensuring that terror groups do not use Afghan soil to threaten or attack other countries. “Those who provide terrorist organisations with material and financial support must be held accountable,” he added.
The world community should “decide on actions that would help bring a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire”, and ensure the Taliban “engage in negotiations in good faith, eschew the path of violence, severe ties with al-Qaeda and other terrorist organisations, and fully commit itself towards reaching a political solution”, Tirumurti added.
