India sets terms to recognise Taliban regime in Afghanistan – inclusive governance, respect for women's rights, no terror export

India on Monday argued for an “inclusive dispensation” to take over in Afghanistan, signalling that it might recognise a government in Kabul with participation of the Taliban, if the arrangement had “broader representation” and ensured that the territory of the country would not be used to export terror.

A day after the Taliban entered Kabul after occupying much of Afghanistan, New Delhi expressed concern over the situation in the conflict-ravaged country. “There is widespread panic among the people. Women and children are in distress. Incidents of firing have been reported from the city, including at the airport,” T S Tirumurti, India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, said, while chairing a special session of the Security Council on the situation in Afghanistan. “While the security situation remains precarious, a grave humanitarian crisis is unfolding.”

India, a non-permanent member of the UNSC, currently holds the rotating presidency of the council for the month of August.

Tirumurti expressed India’s hope that that the situation in Afghanistan would stabilize soon and “the parties concerned” would address “the humanitarian and security issues”. “We also hope that there is an inclusive dispensation which represents all sections of Afghan society. Voices of Afghan women, aspirations of Afghan children and the rights of minorities must be respected. A broader representation would help the arrangement gain more acceptability and legitimacy.”

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India had earlier joined the United States and other nations to warn the Taliban over the past few weeks that if it returned to power in Kabul through violent means without going through a political process or without working out a negotiated settlement, its government would lack legitimacy and Afghanistan would turn into a pariah State. The Taliban had occupied many provincial capitals in Afghanistan over the past few weeks through military offensives, facing varying degree of resistance from the Afghan National Defence and Security Force and the militias led by the warlords. But its entry to Kabul on Sunday was not violent, although the collapse of the government triggered chaos.

“If there is a zero tolerance for terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, and it is ensured that the territory of Afghanistan is not used by terrorist groups to threaten or attack any other country, then Afghanistan’s neighbours and the region would feel safer,” Tirumurti said during the UNSC session on Monday, sending out a not-so-subtle message to the Taliban, amid speculation that the return of the militant organization might be swayed by its mentors in Pakistan to support terrorist organizations to carry out attacks in India.

India noted that Afghanistan had already seen enough bloodshed in the past and it was time for the international community to come together in a united manner, rising above any partisan interests, to support the people of the war-torn country in their desire for peace, stability and security in the country. “It is time for the international community, in particular, this Council, to act and ensure an immediate cessation of violence and contain any possible crisis and mitigate its consequences,” said New Delhi’s envoy to the UN.