Why did India stay away from voting on the proposal brought by Germany in UN against Taliban; Learn the reason?

New York: Germany made a draft proposal against the Taliban on the ‘Status of Afghanistan’ for 2 days at the United Nations General Assembly. This included a violation of human rights being mainly under the Taliban rule in Afghanistan. The proposal was especially focused on the issue of Afghanistan’s deprivation of women and girls of their fundamental rights. This included major points such as condemning human rights violations, anxiety on terrorism, human status and aid, the role of UN. But India stayed away from voting against this proposal brought against the Taliban.

Proposal passed in United Nations

India did not vote in the United Nations on this proposal brought against the Taliban, but in the 193 -member General Assembly, 116 votes were cast in favor of the proposal and 2 in protest. While 12 countries including India did not vote. Thus the UN accepted this proposal.

Detailed details of proposal

1. condemnation of human rights violation

The proposal strongly condemned the gender-based discriminatory policies, such as education of girls and employment of women, in this proposal. It also criticized the Taliban’s atrocities on human rights guards, journalists and minority communities.

2. Concern on Folkism

The proposal expressed concern over activities conducted by organizations such as terrorist activities, especially al-Qaeda and Islamic State from Afghanistan’s land. However, India considered this point as unclear, as it did not clearly mention regional terrorist groups (such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed).

3. Human status and assistance

The proposal attracted attention to the deteriorating humanitarian crisis, such as food insecurity and displacement, and called to increase assistance from the international community.

4. Role of United Nations

It emphasized on strengthening the role of United Nations Mission in Afghanistan (Unama) and appointment of special messengers. So that coordination and monitoring with the Taliban can be increased.

Why did India distance away from voting?

India decided to distance the proposal from voting. These are the main reasons for this….

• India believed that the proposal focused only on the condemnation and punitive measures of the Taliban, which would not be effective. India’s permanent representative Ambassador to the United Nations, Parvatneni Harish, said that a balanced approach is required to deal with the struggle situation, which involves encouraging positive behavior and discouraging the negative tasks. India underlined the lack of creative connection in the proposal.
• India considered the mention of terrorism in the proposal to be insufficient and unclear. India’s biggest concern was that the land of Afghanistan could be used by regional terrorist organizations, such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, who is indirectly related to Pakistan. India emphasized that the international community should justify these organizations and their sponsors which were not clearly in the proposal.

3. India’s ‘soft engagement’ policy with Taliban

After the Taliban came to power in 2021, India maintained a limited, but strategic connection with Afghanistan. India resumed its technical mission in Kabul in 2022 and provided humanitarian assistance such as 50,000 metric tons of wheat, 330 MT medicines, and scholarship for 2,000 students. India tried to keep the way open with the Taliban without giving them formal recognition without distance from voting.

• India believes that stability in Afghanistan is particularly important for South Asia to prevent the spread of terrorism. In the proposal, India considered regional terrorist threats and lack of clear action on their sponsors (such as Pakistan) as a weakness. So did not vote. This stance of India indicates prioritizing its national security interests and regional stability.
• India has historically taken a neutral stance on some proposals in the United Nations. In this case too, India neither supported the proposal nor protest … so that it could maintain its independent policy.

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