At UN, India Calls for a Practical Engagement With Afghan Taliban
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"Coordinated regional and international cooperation on key issues concerning Afghanistan is paramount as is strongly engaging relevant parties for promoting peace, stability and development in the country," Indian Permanent Representative (PR) has told a UNSC briefing.
Ambassador P Harish, India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN), has called for "practical engagement" with the Taliban, while backing a "coherent policy" of engagement that incentivises positive actions.
"A focus on only punitive measures will only ensure that a ‘business as usual’ approach continues as we have been seeing now for the last four and a half years. We call on the United Nations and the international community to adopt nuanced policy instruments that help bringing sustainable benefits for the people of Afghanistan," the Indian diplomat told a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) meeting on the situation in Afghanistan at the UN Headquarters in New York on Wednesday.
Harish said that Indian remained committed to addressing the developmental needs of the Afghan people, adding that the recent decision by the Indian government to restore the status of the Indian Embassy in Kabul underscored that resolve.
"We will continue our engagements with all stakeholders to augment our contribution to Afghanistan’s comprehensive development, humanitarian assistance, and capacity-building initiatives, in keeping with the priorities and aspirations of Afghan society," Harish said.
Noting that India has been a "strong advocate" for peace and stability in Afghanistan, Harish said that India has been participating in all Afghanistan-centric discussions taking place at the Doha Working Group and other regional fora, including the Moscow Format discussions.
He stated that humanitarian assistance as well as healthcare cooperation have remained India's key priorities in engaging with Afghanistan. Harish said that India decided to further deepen its developmental partnership with Afghanistan during the recent visit of Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi to New Delhi, with an emphasis on healthcare, public infrastructure and capacity-building. Further, he said that New Delhi was also working with various UN and international agencies in critical areas such as health, food security, education and sports.
The Indian diplomat highlighted that India was involved in over 500 developmental projects spread across all provinces of Afghanistan.
Harish said that the recent visit of Alhaj Nooruddin Azizi, Afghan Minister of Industry and Commerce, to India had also helped to bolster cooperation on connectivity, trade facilitation and market access.
In terms of healthcare, Harish stressed that the issue was of particular importance to the Afghan people. He said that the healthcare cooperation between the two geographically contiguous neighbours would be further augmented during the upcoming visit of the Afghan Public Health Minister Mawlawi Noor Jalal Jalali to Delhi.
"India has undertaken establishment of a Thalassemia Centre, a Modern Diagnostic Centre, and replacement of the heating system at the Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health (IGICH) in Kabul. Additionally, India will construct a 30-bed hospital in Kabul’s Bagrami district, an Oncology Centre and a Trauma Centre in Kabul, and five Maternity Health Clinics. About 75 prosthetic limbs have been successfully fitted to Afghan nationals. India also continues to extend medical assistance and provide high-quality healthcare treatment to Afghan nationals," Harish stated.
Taking note of the UN Secretary-General's recent report on Afghanistan, Harish expressed concerns about the difficult humanitarian situation created by the "involuntary return" of over 2 million refugees, border clashes displacing hundreds of families, disrupting trade and threatening the livelihoods of Afghan fruit farmers.
He reiterated India's condemnation of cross-border air strikes in Afghanistan, which left innocent women, children and cricketers dead.
Further, the Indian PR expressed grave concern over the practice of “trade and transit terrorism” against Afghanistan due to the closure of access for the land-locked country, while voicing opposition to weaponising "trade and transit vulnerabilities".
"These acts are in violation of WTO norms. Such open threats and acts of war against a fragile and vulnerable LLDC nation, trying to rebuild in difficult circumstances, constitute a blatant violation of the UN Charter and international law. While we condemn such acts, we also strongly support the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Afghanistan," Harish remarked during the address.
At the same time, the Indian representative said that New Delhi was closely monitoring the security situation in Afghanistan.
"The international community must coordinate efforts towards ensuring that entities and individuals designated by the UN Security Council, the ISIL* and Al-Qaeda* and their affiliates, including the Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT)* and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM)* and proxies of LeT such as The Resistance Front (TRF)**, along with those who facilitate their operations, no longer indulge in cross-border terrorism," Harish stated.
*UN-proscribed terror group
**banned terror group in India
