Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend an extraordinary virtual meeting of G20 leaders on Afghanistan to be held on October 12.
Mr. Modi had urged the international community to carefully act on the recognition of the Taliban as the legitimate rulers of Afghanistan and the G20 meeting is likely to deliberate on both political as well as humanitarian issues regarding the country.
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Ahead of the meeting, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Minister of State Meenakshi Lekhi reminded the world about the multilateral norms that have been set in place regarding the Afghan crisis.
The G20 meeting comes soon after the United States held a round of discussion on assisting the Taliban deal with the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan as winter is deepening amidst shortage of essential commodities and a collapse of the banking system .
Jaishankar in Bishkek
India explained the current position on Afghanistan on Monday, with Mr. Jaishankar meeting his Kyrgyz counterpart Ruslan Kazakbaev in Bishkek.
At the end of his visit in Bishkek, Mr. Jaishankar said, “We are closely following the developments in Afghanistan. It concerns all of us. There are expectations of the international community from the current regime in Afghanistan which are adequately elaborated in the UNSC Resolution 2593.”
Ms. Lekhi also highlighted UNSC Resolution 2593 while speaking at a meeting held on Monday in Belgrade to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).
“Following recent developments in Afghanistan, it is absolutely imperative that the approach of the international community is guided by the U.N. Security Council Resolution 2593,” she stated, emphasising that the territory of Afghanistan should not be used to export terror against other countries. The G20 extraordinary meeting comes as Afghan hospitals run out of basic medicines and that country witnesses increased suffering in the rural sector because of the disruption of the agriculture supply chain.
Italy holds talks
Italy, the current chair of G20, has discussed the situation in Kabul and other cities of Afghanistan with world powers like Russia and China. Prime Minister Mario Draghi observed in September last week that the immediate aim of the world community was to ensure that human lives were saved in that country.
Italy believes that the Taliban’s denial of women’s rights makes it difficult for the world to recognise it as a legitimate political entity but maintains that people should receive financial support.
Published - October 11, 2021 05:04 pm IST
