UNSC Briefing and Consultations on Afghanistan/UNAMA

(23 June 2022; 1000 hrs. EST)

Statement by Ambassador T.S. Tirumurti

Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations

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Mr. President,

    At the outset, I express our deepest condolences to the victims and their families, and to all those impacted by the devastating earthquake in Afghanistan. India shares the grief of the people of Afghanistan and is ready to provide assistance and support in this hour of need.

2.    I thank the Deputy SRSG Ramiz Alakhbarov and the Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths for their briefing. I also thank Ms. Yalda Hakim and Ms. Yalda Royan for their remarks. 

3.    As a contiguous neighbor and long-standing partner of Afghanistan, India has direct stakes in ensuring the return of peace and stability to the country. Therefore, given our strong historical and civilizational linkages to the Afghan people, we are deeply concerned about the recent developments in Afghanistan, especially the deteriorating humanitarian situation. 

4.    India supported the Security Council Resolution 2615 that provided for humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan, while ensuring that the Security Council would continue to exercise its oversight to guard against any possible diversion of funds and misuse of exemptions from sanctions. We note the briefing by the Emergency Relief Coordinator on the working of the resolution and the concerns he has expressed. We hope that the ‘humanitarian carve outs’ of this Resolution are fully utilized by the UN agencies and their aid partners and aberrations addressed. 

5.    In this context, we reiterate that humanitarian assistance should be based on principles of neutrality, impartiality, and independence. The disbursement of humanitarian aid should be non-discriminatory and accessible to all, irrespective of ethnicity, religion, or political belief. In particular, the assistance should reach the most vulnerable first, including women, children, and minorities.

6.    In response to the humanitarian needs of the Afghan people, India has dispatched several shipments of humanitarian assistance consisting of 30,000 MTs of wheat, 13 tons of medicines, 500,000 doses of COVID-19 Vaccine and winter clothing. These humanitarian consignments were handed over to the Indira Gandhi Children’s Hospital, Kabul, and UN specialized agencies such as WHO and UNWFP. To ensure fair and just distribution of India’s wheat assistance, the Government of India signed an agreement with the WFP for the distribution of 50,000 MT of wheat within Afghanistan. The dispatch of this wheat to Afghanistan has already commenced. 

7.    Moreover, to oversee the utilization of India’s medical and food-grain assistance and to further assess the humanitarian requirements of Afghan people, an Indian team visited Kabul recently (on June 02-03) and met with the representatives of the International Organizations involved in distribution of the humanitarian assistance. In addition, the team also visited places where Indian programmes and projects are being implemented like Indira Gandhi Children Hospital, Habibia High School, Chimtala sub-power station and the WFP wheat distribution center. We are now in the process of shipping more medical assistance and food grains to Afghanistan. We also gifted one million doses of India’s COVAXIN COVID-19 vaccines to Iran to administer to the Afghan refugees in Iran. In addition, we have assisted UNICEF by supplying almost 60 million doses of polio vaccine and two tons of essential medicines. 

8.    Our approach to Afghanistan, as always, will be guided by our historical friendship and our special relationship with the people of Afghanistan.

Mr. President,

9.    The expectations of the international community on the way forward in Afghanistan have been clearly set forth in the Council’s Resolution 2593 and reiterated subsequently, including in UNSCR 2626. These relate to ensuring that the territory of Afghanistan is not used to launch terrorist attacks against other countries; formation of a truly inclusive and representative government; combating terrorism and drug trafficking; and preserving the rights of women, children, and minorities.

10.    India is closely motioning the security situation in Afghanistan and is actively engaging with international community to ensure consensus on issues of security, peace, and stability. We strongly condemn the terrorist attack on Gurudwara Dashmesh Pita Sahibji in Kabul on June 18. The terrorist assault on places of worship of minority communities and targeting of innocent civilian population continues to be a serious concern. The recent findings of the 1988 Sanctions Committee’s Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team Report indicate that the current authorities need to take much stronger action to fulfill their anti-terrorism commitments. There is a significant increase in the presence of ISIL-K in the country and their capacity to carry out attacks. ISIL-K, with its base reportedly in Afghanistan, continues to issue threats of terrorist attacks on other countries. The report further noted that the Taliban is yet to dissociate itself with other terrorist groups such as the Al-Qaeda which continue to remain active. The linkages between groups listed by the UNSC such as the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and the Jaish-e-Mohammed, as well as, provocative statements made by other terrorist groups operating out of Afghanistan pose a direct threat to the region. There are, therefore, serious concerns which need our immediate attention and unified action to ensure that the Afghanistan does not become a haven for other terrorist organisations including ISIS-K, Al-Qaeda, Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba. We need to see concrete progress in ensuring that such proscribed terrorists, entities, or their aliases do not get any support, tacit or direct, either from Afghan soil or from the terror sanctuaries based in the region. 

11.    On the political front, India continues to call for an inclusive dispensation in Afghanistan which represents all sections of the Afghan society. A broad-based, inclusive, and representative formation is necessary for both domestic and international engagement.

12.    We are deeply concerned about recent developments in Afghanistan which directly impact women and girls of Afghanistan. There has been an increasing attempt towards removing women from public life in Afghanistan. We join others in calling for ensuring the protection of rights of women and girls and to ensure that the long-fought gains of the last two decades are not reversed. 

Mr. President, 

13.    Peace and security in Afghanistan are critical imperatives that all of us need to collectively strive for. India will continue to play its role towards the pursuit of that objective. The interests of Afghan people will continue to be at the heart of our efforts in Afghanistan. 

I thank you.