Perhaps the biggest international development in the world in 2021 was the Talibani takeover of Afghanistan. It caught the world off-guard and needless to say, the several repurcussions of the takeover are yet to be analysed. Meanwhile, pressure was building on the international community to respond accordingly.
The Security Council on August 30, 2021 adopted Resolution 2593 which outlined its stance on the issue of Taliban and Afghanistan. In this article, we study the overview of the Resolution. Read on!
What is UNSC Resolution 2593?
- It was put forward by US, UK, and France and adopted after 13 council members voted in favour.
- The resolution demands that Afghan territory should not be used to threaten/attack any country or to shelter/train terrorists or plan/finance terrorist acts.
- It specifically mentions individuals and entities designated by UNSC Resolution 1267 i.e. Laskar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM)
- The permanent members Russia and China abstained from voting (not veto), while the rest of the 13 members voted in favour.
What is the significance of the resolution?
- Strong signal from the United Nations Security Council and the international community on its expectations in respect of Afghanistan
- Called on the Taliban to keep its commitments on preventing terror groups in Afghanistan
- Urged Taliban to assist the safe evacuations of Afghan nationals wishing to leave the country
- Addressed the concerns of anti-India terror outfits like LeT and JeM.
Why did Russia and China abstain from voting?
- Demand of inclusion of groups like Islamic State and Uighur East Turkmenistan Islamic Movement in the document.
- Non-inclusion of freezing Afghan financial assets in the document
- The resolution was alleged to be unbalanced and forcefully pushed through
What are the recent developments of India’s engagement with Taliban?
- The Ministry of External Affairs announced that its Ambassador to Qatar met with the head of the Taliban’s political office.
- Discussions were on safety, security and early return of Indian nationals stranded in Afghanistan
- Also focused on Afghan nationals, especially minorities
- Demanded that Afghanistan’s soil should not be used for anti-Indian activities and terrorism in any manner
- Taliban leaders have reassured on multiple occasions that all these issues would be positively addressed.
What would be India’s future course of action?
- There still exist concerns about the Haqqani group, a part of the Taliban group which attacked the Indian Embassy in 2008-2009
- Being in touch ‘with various stakeholders; in Afghanistan and meeting with Taliban representatives
- The crux of the policy is to ‘wait and watch’ the Taliban’s actions in the light of human rights, treatment of women and minorities, attitude towards terror groups, etc.
YLCC would like to thank Riya Gupta for her valuable inputs in this article.
