While a statement released by the United Nations Security Council on August 16, right after Kabul fell to the Taliban mentioned Taliban in its Terror statement, but that issued on August 27, a day after the blasts near Kabul airport did not. The statement referred to the Taliban as an ‘Afghan group’, instead.
The UNSC’s August 16 statement 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 on the territory of any other country,” this was UNSC’s statement on August 16.
Whereas, in its statement issued after the Kabul blasts, the UNSC, instead of mentioning the Taliban, said ‘no Afghan group or individual’ should support terrorists operating on the territory of any country.
The change was highlighted by Syed Akbaruddin, India’s permanent representative in the U.S. from January 2016 – April 2020.
“A fortnight is a long time. The ‘T’ word is gone,” Syed Akbaruddin tweeted.
As the Taliban are on the brink of forming a government, U.S. President Joe Biden has announced that the U.S. will stick by its deadline to withdraw all its troops from the country by August 31.
As for the acceptance of the Taliban, India had said that at the moment safe evacuation of people from Afghanistan was the priority. “The situation on the ground is uncertain (in Afghanistan). The primary concern is the security and safety of people. Currently, there is no clarity about any entity forming a government in Kabul. I think we are jumping the gun regarding recognition,” MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi had said, on Friday.