UNSC statement on Afghanistan crisis drops Taliban reference, raises eyebrows

The latest statement on Afghanistan political crisis by United Nations Security Council has raised eyebrows as the reference to the militant group Taliban has been dropped. Here's what happened...

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New Delhi: After nearly two weeks since Taliban militants took captured Afghanistan, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) statement on the political turmoil in the war-torn country raised eyebrows as the reference to the militant group Taliban, was dropped from a recurring paragraph. 

The UNSC, which is being chaired by India for the month of August, issued a statement on behalf of the UNSC on August 27 condemning the attacks near the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul on August 26 and called upon Afghan groups to not lend their support to terrorists operating on their territory. But, one of the paragraphs was reproduced from an earlier statement and the referrrence to Taliban in the latest staement was dropped.  

The lastest statement reads: "The members of the Security Council reiterated the importance of combating terrorism in Afghanistan to ensure the territory of Afghanistan should not be used to threaten or attack any country, and that no Afghan group or individual should support terrorists operating on the territory of any country."

The statement issued by the UNSC on August 16 after the fall of Kabul to the militant group read: “The members of the Security Council reaffirmed the importance of combating terrorism in Afghanistan to ensure the territory of Afghanistan should not be used to threaten or attack any country, and that neither the Taliban nor any other Afghan group or individual should support terrorists operating on the territory of any other country."

The matter was noted by India’s former permanent representative at the UN, Syed Akbaruddin, who pointed out the matter in a post shared on social media.

Taking to Twitter, he wrote, "In diplomacy, a fortnight is a long time. The ‘T’ word is gone. Compare the marked portions of UN Security Council statements issued on August 16 and on August 27."

In diplomacy…
A fortnight is a long time…
The ‘T’ word is gone

Compare the marked portions of @UN Security Council statements issued on 16 August & on 27 August… pic.twitter.com/BPZTk23oqX — Syed Akbaruddin (@AkbaruddinIndia) August 28, 2021

Meanwhile, the Taliban is preparing for a new cabinet as the US evacuation nears its end and they expected that sharp currency falls and economic turmoil following their takeover of Kabul two weeks ago would subside.