THE UN Security Council on Monday called for the establishment through inclusive negotiations of a new, united, inclusive and representative Government in Afghanistan with full women participation as it reaffirmed the need to ensure that the Taliban or any other Afghan group should not support terrorists operating on the territory of any other country. The 15-nation Council held an emergency meeting on the situation in Afghanistan, where the Taliban took control, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled the country, and chaos, uncertainty and tragedy unfolded on the streets and at the airport as thousands tried to flee the ravaged nation.

 

The Council meeting on Afghanistan was the second in just over 10 days, held under India’s current Presidency of the powerful UN body. After the meeting, Council members, in a statement, called for an immediate cessation of all hostilities and “the establishment, through inclusive negotiations, of a new Government that is united, inclusive and representative – including with the full, equal and meaningful participation of women.” The Security Council members “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 Council members also called for an immediate end to the violence in Afghanistan, the restoration of security, civil and constitutional order, and urgent talks to resolve the current crisis of authority in the country and to arrive at a peaceful settlement through an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned process of national reconciliation. Addressing the UNSC meeting, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said, “we must speak with one voice to uphold human rights in Afghanistan.”