‘A fortnight is a long time’: UNSC statement on terrorism skips Taliban

There was no mention of Taliban in a statement issued by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on the need to combat terrorism in Afghanistan following the Kabul airport attacks that killed over 100 people, indicating a possible change in the international community’s stance towards the group.

The statement was signed off and issued by India in its capacity as the President of the UNSC for the month of August

On August 16, a day after Taliban’s takeover of Kabul and effectively Afghanistan, the Permanent Representative of India at the UN, T S Tirumurti, issued a statement on behalf of the UNSC, which said “neither the Taliban nor any other Afghan group or individual should support terrorists operating on the territory of any other country.”

However, on August 27, Tirumurti issued another statement on behalf of the UNSC, which condemned the previous day’s “deplorable attacks” on the Kabul airport, but skipped any mention of the Taliban. “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 said.

Former India’s Permanent Representative to India at the UN, Syed Akbaruddin, who highlighted on Twitter the important difference between the two statements, said, “In diplomacy…a fortnight is a long time…The ‘T’ word is gone.”

New Delhi’s decision to sign off on the statement had been taken in view of changing “ground realities,” The Indian Express quoted officials as saying.

The August 27 statement also assumes significance owing to what US President Joe Biden recently described the Taliban’s attempts to seek “legitimacy” to their rule in Afghanistan.

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“They are seeking legitimacy to determine whether or not they would be recognised by other countries. They have told other countries as well as us that they do not want us to move our diplomatic presence completely. All this talk now, so far Taliban has not taken actions against US forces,” Biden said last Sunday.