Permanent Mission of India
New York
-- 

UNAMA Briefing - UNSC Meeting on the Situation in Afghanistan

Statement by Ambassador Harish Parvathaneni, Permanent Representative
September 16, 2026

Mr. President,

I congratulate France on taking over the Presidency of the Council for this month and thank you for giving me the floor. I thank Ms. Georgette Gagnon, Head of Mission, Deputy SRSG - Political for Afghanistan for briefing this meeting. We also note the briefings by the civil society.

2. As contiguous neighbours, the relationship between Indians and Afghans is older than modern maps and boundaries. The roads from Kabul to the plains of Hindustan were not only trade routes, but also corridors of ideas and knowledge, of belief and faith. Over the centuries, empires have risen and receded across these lands, but the thread of friendship and kinship between the Afghan and the Indian has not been broken. It is this spirit that guides my country’s policy towards this nation. We stand in favour of peace, stability and prosperity that could aid sustainable development of Afghanistan as evidenced by our participation in the Doha Working Group meetings, our strong bilateral development partnership and our efforts in regional initiatives.

Mr President

3. I reiterate Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s strong belief that India’s shared aspiration for a peaceful and secure Eurasia is also closely linked to peace and stability in Afghanistan. Through more than 500 development partnership projects in all 34 provinces of Afghanistan, India has been contributing to its development. Our commitment to providing humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan will continue. We are working with UN agencies as well as others such as the Afghan Red Crescent Society to deliver aid to those who need it the most in Afghanistan.

4. Visits of Afghan Ministers to India over the last few months have enabled bilateral consultations to discuss cooperation in humanitarian assistance, development projects, healthcare, food security, capacity-building, counter narcotics, sports, education, trade, travel and connectivity for the welfare and development needs of more than 48 million Afghan people, who endure pressing deprivation and suffering, as also hostility and profound neglect of the international community over the last five years.

5. The UN Secretary General’s report identifies the crisis of Afghanistan’s weak public health system that has seen closure of 150 health facilities in the first half of this year. We cannot look away from this dire situation and must invest in preventing a humanitarian catastrophe in Afghanistan. In addition to the 33 tons of vaccines and related material that we supplied for supporting the Child Immunisation Programme in the last quarter, in this reporting period, India has gifted specialised medical equipment, including neonatal and paediatric care devices, cardiograph machine, ventilators, patient monitors, electrocautery equipment, plastic surgery sets and specialised medical kits to Afghan health authorities. This was also supplemented by another 17 tonnes of essential medicines and medical consumables that have reached Kabul to augment the healthcare services.  India continues to support development projects in Afghanistan, particularly in the healthcare sector, including the construction of maternity clinics, with a view to strengthening medical infrastructure and improving access to essential healthcare services for the Afghan people.  We are also discussing pharmaceutical trade, availability of quality and affordable medicines, drug regulation, quality standards and regulatory cooperation with Afghan agencies.

6. In the area of agriculture, we are discussing agricultural research, quality seeds, irrigation, horticulture, livestock, food processing and capacity building. Let us recognise what the World Drug Report 2026 of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime states – opium poppy cultivation and production in Afghanistan has remained at historically low levels since Afghan authorities banned narcotics in 2022. We believe that forging closer cooperation with agriculture research institutes will aid the Afghan authorities in their commitment to move Afghans away from cultivation of crops that had been aiding the global drugs syndicates and help in the global counter-narcotics effort. In partnership with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, India has provided 68 tons of medical supplies and 34 tons of social support items for the rehabilitation of drug addicts. We urge member states to support this effort.

Mr. President,

7. Since August 2021, my country has supplied more than 50,000 tons of wheat, over 450 tons of medicines and vaccines as well as 40,000 liters of pesticides to Afghanistan. We have provided humanitarian assistance and critical care items in face of disasters such as earthquakes.  However, we realize that moving towards economic self dependence is extremely important for our Afghan brothers and sisters. We have been having discussions on enhancing bilateral trade, facilitating Afghan exports to India, and strengthening B2B linkages.  India has emerged as a major destination for Afghan exports, and we remain committed to further increasing bilateral trade in support of Afghanistan’s economic development. In this regard, India continues to provide tariff-free access to Afghan goods, facilitate trade through the dedicated India-Afghanistan Air Freight Corridor, and issue gratis long-term business visas to Afghan traders.  We strongly condemn the trade and transit terror inflicted on Afghanistan in violation of UN declarations on Land Locked Developing Countries (LLDCs), WTO norms, provision of the UN Charter and international law, and the tenets of basic human compassion. 

8. We also reiterate our deep concern at the humanitarian plight of the Afghan returnees. The Secretary General’s Report mentions that, in 2025, 2.9 million Afghans were returned, and until 22 August 2026, another 1.15 million Afghans were returned, most of which were involuntary. A forcible return of this nature that is neither safe nor dignified, of over 3 million individuals, in any other part of the world would have elicited a political outcry in this Council, urgent provision of large scale humanitarian support and efforts to ensure better re-integration and assimilation. That there is no such reaction is a sad reflection on the times. We reaffirm that returns must be voluntary, safe and dignified, and reintegration should receive sustained international support. To this end, India is cooperating with the UN agencies and the Afghan authorities to make provisions for housing, food and other essential items to ease the immense pain and hardship the returnees are suffering.  To support the shelter and rehabilitation needs of Afghan returnees, India in July 2026, gifted family tents to the Afghan Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation. 

9. In the field of education, our scholarship and fellowship schemes for Afghan students have great uptake. Since 2023, more than 3000 students have got these opportunities, including 1000 Afghan women. Another 1000 scholarships are being offered in the current academic year to Afghan students to pursue Bachelor’s and Master’s degree courses in Indian universities. India also continues to provide financial and logistical support to Afghan self-help Groups led by women.

10. We reiterate our position that human rights cannot be advanced in isolation from security, development and economic opportunity.  Progress of Afghan society requires principled, practical and sustained engagement. India supports provision of greater opportunities to all Afghans in all spheres of human endeavor, including for Afghan women.

Mr. President,

11. Last week, we honoured the memory of those taken mercilessly away by the scourge of terrorism 25 years ago in this very city. Earlier this month, the Council members visited the site of this horrible tragedy. May the memory of these victims always remain a motivation to not only fight against all such individuals who are the worst of humanity, but also those who aid, abet, finance and support their crimes.

12. The international community supported the global campaign to counter terrorism in the wake of 9/11. Let us, not forget, however, that Al Qaeda’s terror eco-system established its strategic depth beyond Afghanistan through its affiliates. The leaders of Al Qaeda who conceived and directed these 9/11 attacks did not escape justice in the wilderness of some ungoverned frontier.

→ Osama bin Laden, who ordered and financed the plot, was tracked down and killed in a fortified compound within a settled, guarded community under Operation Neptune Spear.

→ Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the principal architect of the operation, was found sheltering in an ordinary residential house.

→ Ramzi Binalshibh, who coordinated the hijacker cell after being denied a visa to join them, was sheltering in an urban centre.

→ Senior al-Qaeda operative Walid bin Attash who helped select and prepare several hijackers, was likewise, captured separately.

→ Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi, a key financial and logistical facilitator of the 9/11 operation was captured under similar circumstances.

13. In each case, these were not fugitives hiding in caves or badlands they were men who had for long evaded detection. Draining this swamp that provided an enabling environment for such monsters of humankind to prosper is important. The same permissive environment that sheltered the architects of 9/11 has, in the years since, continued to provide space, support, and impunity to affiliates of Al Qaeda such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed and their like, acquiring different identities to escape this Council’s sanctions framework and whose leadership and terror training infrastructure have been shielded from consequence. The international community must join hands to address the continuity of such sanctuary in order to ensure that more such individuals are not thrust upon any country or its citizens and no one loses family and loved ones.

14.. India underscores the continued relevance of UNAMA's mandate and reaffirms its unwavering support to the Mission at this critical juncture, as it works to advance peace and stability in Afghanistan. We convey our warm wishes to its incoming Head, Ambassador Rabab Fatima as she prepares to assume this important responsibility.

Mr. President,

15. Once again, we reemphasize the importance of incentivizing positive actions. We cannot firewall 48 million people suffering deprivation and immense hardship out of our collective conscience and expect that there will be no consequences. There is a lot of misery in this world, but the case of Afghanistan is especially dire and we must recognize its new reality and change our collective approach, much like we have done in other similar situations. The UN and international community must widen its policy toolkit to include positive inducements and nudges as well, so that one day, a young Afghan girl or boy can also proudly say that the world helped them when needed.

16. Afghanistan is also the world’s collective responsibility and this Council has an important role to play in discharging it. A beginning can be made with the Council addressing issues that are under its direct mandate.

I thank you, Mr. President

*******