WorlPosted at: Aug 3 2021 8:01PM Any meeting on Afghanistan must address issue of violence, targeted attacks: India at UN
United Nations/New Delhi, Aug 3 (UNI) India has said that it is convinced that any meeting on Afghanistan must address the question of violence and targeted attacks in the war-wracked country, and that violence must come to an end.
India’s Permanent Representative to the UN T.S. Tirumurti, addressing his first press conference as India took over the month-long rotating presidency of the UN Security Council, said in answer to questions on Afghanistan, that the issue of raising UN peacekeeping forces for Afghanistan has not been formally raised.
“India has supported every opportunity that can bring peace, security and stability in Afghanistan. And we are convinced that any meeting should address the question of violence, and targeted attacks, and these are of very serious concern. Violence must come to an end,” Tirumurti said.
“And ties with international terrorism must also be cut, and we cannot have terrorist camps once again going back into Afghanistan, as this will have a direct impact on India," he added.
His remarks come ahead of the August 11 meeting in Doha of the "Troika Plus" group on Afghanistan, comprising Russia, the US, China, and Pakistan, Afghanistan.
Asked to comment on what India thought of the US’s decision to withdraw its forces from Afghanistan, which has led to the Taliban making a rapid sweep across the nation leading to intensified fighting and displacement of thousands of Afghans from their homes, Tirumurti declined to comment.
“I don’t want to comment on a decision which is a sovereign decision of a country. I’ll let the question pass. It is the prerogative of the US to decide what they want to do, and they have taken a decision.”
On the UNSC role, he said that it is important at the UN Security Council “to ensure that we jointly support Afghanistan in bringing a democratic and a stable society that will respect women and minorities.”
To a question on what is the incentive for the Taliban to negotiate peace, he said it is the “requirement of legitimacy for those who come to power”. “And this legitimacy you cannot get through unilateral actions.”
He said following the Taliban attack on a UN mission in Herat last week, in which one Afghan guard was killed and several others injured, the main concern of the UN is now the safety and security of the UN missions in Afghanistan.
“The situation in Afghanistan is of deep concern to all members of the UNSC, and we have seen that in recent dates the violence is only increasing,” he said, adding that the casualty figures between May and June this year exceed that of between January and April.
“Targeted killings are increasing, women, girls, and minorities are being systematically targeted. And there was also an attack on the UNAMA compound in Herat,” referring to the Taliban attack last Friday on the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan compound.
“These are concerns common to all members of the UNSC, and we have supported a leading role for the UN. Durable peace is important because it has direct implications on the security of the region itself. Durable peace requires a genuine double peace -- which is peace within Afghanistan and peace around Afghanistan,” he added.
Tirumurti said that he expected the UNSC to start looking at all these aspects on Afghanistan “sooner than later”, and on how best to support the peace talks.
On India’s position, he said that “We have mentioned very clearly that we want to see an independent, peaceful, democratic and stable Afghanistan.”
“A lasting political settlement through an inclusive Afghan-led and Afghan-owned and an Afghan-controlled process, is extremely important,” Tirumurti said.
Stressing that it is important to protect the gains over the last 20 years in Afghanistan, he said that “It is extremely important that they are respectful to the aspirations of the Afghan women, the youth and the minorities. They need a safe and a democratic future. This is where we believe that any government that comes to power in Afghanistan has to be seen as legitimate in the eyes of the people.”
“So, consequently we cannot have unilateral imposition of will by any party. And peaceful negotiations should be taken seriously by all the parties,” he said, adding that there is need for the peace dialogue to be “accelerated”.
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