India attends UN meet on Afghanistan issues

Taliban representative Zabihullah Mujahid

Doha (Qatar) – The UN-led conference on Afghanistan was held on 30th June 2024 and India was one of the 25 countries participating in the conference. The conference was considered to be special since it was the first time that even Taliban leaders were present for the meeting. The Taliban had boycotted every UN meeting held earlier.

The United Nations had made it clear that the purpose of holding the meeting was not granting approval to the Taliban.

The conference was, however, strongly criticised by human rights activists as they demanded no talks with the Taliban or approve the Taliban Government till it stops violating Taliban women’s rights.

India was represented by Mr J P Singh, the Joint Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs. Mr Jaishankar, the Minister of External Affairs was in Doha, but he didn’t attend the conference.

India cannot ignore the Taliban due to the security situation in Afghanistan. Though India has not approved Afghan-Taliban, it is maintaining its influence by extending aid on humanitarian grounds.

Taliban demands removal of restrictions

Taliban’s representative Zabihullah Mujahid attended the conference. He told the media that he got an opportunity to express his views before all the participating nations. There have been many financial sanctions on the banking field in Afghanistan since the Taliban came to power, leading to weakening Afghanistan’s economy; therefore, the restrictions should be removed in such a situation.