UN Security Council passes resolution endorsing Afghanistan peace
All 15 members supported the resolution, tabled by the United States, which endorses a joint US-Afghan declaration on peace and an agreement signed between Washington and the Taliban.
By IAR Desk
The UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution on Tuesday afternoon welcoming recent steps towards ending the conflict in Afghanistan.
“The developments endorsed by this resolution are the product of more than a year of unprecedented US diplomatic engagement with the Taliban, in coordination with our partners in Afghanistan, the region, and around the world”, said Cherith Norman Chalet, the US Acting Deputy Permanent Representative.
The agreement with the Taliban calls for the fundamentalists to severe ties with international terrorist groups and to prevent them from using Afghanistan to carry out attacks against the US.
The Taliban also would participate in an intra-Afghan dialogue. While negotiations were scheduled to begin on Tuesday, they were postponed due to renewed violence and political discord at the highest levels of government.
Both incumbent Ashraf Ghani and rival Abdullah Abdullah claimed victory in the presidential election last September and held, in effect, duelling inauguration ceremonies on Monday.
The US has welcomed President Ghani’s steps towards agreement on an inclusive government, and Mr. Abdullah’s commitments to peace and inclusivity.
“We hope the people of Afghanistan seize the opportunity to achieve an historic peace settlement that ends the conflict in Afghanistan; preserves the gains of the last two decades in human rights, basic freedoms, and the meaningful participation of women in political and civil institutions; and ensures that the territory of the Afghan people will never again be used by international terrorists to threaten the world”, Ms. Norman Chalet said.
The US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad said that the resolution ‘demonstrates the internatinoal community supports our approach to security for the world from Afghanistan. And peace, unity, and sovereignty for the Afghan people'” in a tweet.
It was Khalilzad’s shuttle diplomacy that was instrumental in clinching the peace agreement.
Meanwhile, President Ashraf Ghani has agreed to release some 5000 Taliban prisoners, beginning from Saturday, 14 March, 2020.
The Security Council vote took place just hours after the Group of Friends of Women in Afghanistan met at UN Headquarters. Its members, who include women ambassadors, champion women’s participation in the country’s future.
Group co-chair Ambassador Karen Pierce of the United Kingdom said the resolution sends a clear message on women’s inclusion.
“We expect to see the effective and meaningful participation in the peace process of women, as well as youth and other minorities. And while any peace deal is ultimately for afghans to decide upon, we affirm that it should protect the fundamental rights and freedoms of all”, she said.
(With inputs from UN News)
