By Arul Louis United Nations, Aug 30 : India has warned of the possibility of a “significant rise” in the presence of terrorist groups in the Taliban-ruled Afghanistan and threats to other nations emanating from the war-ravaged country.
“We must see tangible advancement in making sure that these banned terrorists or organizations or their aliases don’t receive any support, whether direct or tacit, from Afghan territory or from terror sanctuaries in the region.” India’s Permanent Rep Ruchira Kamboj told the UN Security Council on Monday.
India’s concerns regarding threats to terrorists from Afghanistan were well-known by all attendees at the Council meeting on the anniversary of the anniversary of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Kamboj said the country was experiencing “a notable growth” in the presence of the Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K) terror group in Afghanistan and its “capacity to conduct attacks”.
The IS affiliate “continues to make threats of terrorist attacks against foreign nations”, she said.
Kamboj called attention to the attack on an Gurdwara in Kabul in June, and the bomb explosion that occurred near it in the following month and the subsequent explosion near it, which she declared to be “hugely frightening”.
IS-K claimed the responsibility for the attack.
“The links between groups identified by the UN Security Council such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Jaish-e-Mohammed as well as insidious statements from other terrorist organizations which operate out of Afghanistan constitute an immediate threat to the peace and security of the entire region.” she added.
The UK, France, the US, Albania, Kenya and, more importantly, China and Russia acknowledged the threat of terrorism from Afghanistan.
The meeting was held on the request of Russia which along with China, Iran and Pakistan were seeking to have the sanctions against the Taliban eased.
They used the threat of terrorism to justify their position and claimed that collaborating with the Taliban and lifting travel bans on their leaders, and release of the country’s frozen money will open the way to solving the problem of terrorism and other issues such as women’s rights.
China’s Permanent Representative Zhang Jun said the US should “immediately return the frozen assets” and Pakistan’s Permanent Representative Munir Akram also echoed this sentiment.
US Permanent Representative Linda Thomas-Greenfield responded: “No country that is committed to halting terrorists in Afghanistan would ever advocate giving the Taliban immediate, unrestricted access to billions in assets belonging to the Afghan people.”
United Arab Emirates Permanent Representative Lana Zaki Nusseibeh has said the Council should make use of the tools at its disposal to help the Taliban fight terrorists.
Albania’s Permanent Representative Frid Hoxha noted that pervasive links between the Taliban and international terrorist groups persist and Kenya’s Counsellor Gideon Kinuthia Ndung’u stated that the country must ensure that Afghanistan will not become an ideal location for terrorist organizations such as IS or Al Qaeda to launch attacks.
Russia along with China, Iran and Pakistan accused the US for the terrorist attacks in Afghanistan.
The Permanent Representative of Russia Vasily Nebenzya stated” “The US came to Afghanistan with an unspecified mission to combat terror.However, their visit to the country only increased its status as a center of terrorists and a hub of production and distribution of substances.”
He and Zhun stated they believe that the US and other Western nations should take responsibility for their mistakes in Afghanistan.
Kamboj stated Kamboj stated that India has provided Afghanistan 32 tons of medical aid, which includes life-saving essential medicines such as anti-TB medications, 500 000 doses of Covid vaccine, as well as over 40,000 tons of wheat.
These were distributed through the World Health Organisation and the UN’s World Food Programme to ensure they reached the population.
She expressed “concern over the current developments in Afghanistan that directly affect the health of women as well as girls”.
“We are with other women in asking for the protection of the rights of women and girls as well as to ensure that the hard-fought gains of the past two decades do not be reversed.”
The Taliban has severely restricted education, employment as well as participation in public life for women.
(Arul Louis is reached via [email protected] and he can be followed via @arulouis.)
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