'Pakistan Doesn't Know Where Masood Azhar Is': Bilawal Bhutto's Stunning Claim, Asks India For Help
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Business Standard
22 minutes ago
- Business Standard
UN adopts resolution on Afghanistan's Taliban rule despite US objections
The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on Monday over US objections calling on Afghanistan's Taliban rulers to reverse their worsening oppression of women and girls and eliminate all terrorist organizations. The 11-page resolution also emphasises the importance of creating opportunities for economic recovery, development and prosperity in Afghanistan, and urges donors to address the country's dire humanitarian and economic crisis. The resolution is not legally binding but is seen as a reflection of world opinion. The vote was 116 in favour, with two the United States and close ally Israel opposed and 12 abstentions, including Russia, China, India and Iran. Since returning to power in Afghanistan in 2021, the Taliban have imposed harsh measures, banning women from public places and girls from attending school beyond the sixth grade. Last week, Russia became the first country to formally recognize the Taliban's government. Germany's UN Ambassador Antje Leendertse, whose country sponsored the resolution, told the assembly before the vote that her country and many others remain gravely concerned about the dire human rights situation in Afghanistan, especially the Taliban's near-total erasure of the rights of women and girls. The core message of the resolution, she said, is to tell Afghan mothers holding sick and underfed children or mourning victims of terrorist attacks, as well as the millions of Afghan women and girls locked up at home, that they have not been forgotten. US minister-counsellor Jonathan Shrier was critical of the resolution, which he said rewards the Taliban's failure with more engagement and more resources." He said the Trump administration doubts they will ever pursue policies "in accordance with the expectations of the international community. For decades we shouldered the burden of supporting the Afghan people with time, money and, most important, American lives, he said. It is the time for the Taliban to step up. The United States will no longer enable their heinous behaviour. Last month, the Trump administration banned Afghans hoping to resettle in the US permanently and those seeking to come temporarily, with exceptions. The resolution expresses appreciation to governments hosting Afghan refugees, singling out the two countries that have taken the most: Iran and Pakistan. While the resolution notes improvements in Afghanistan's overall security situation, it reiterates concern about attacks by al-Qaida and Islamic State militants and their affiliates. It calls upon Afghanistan "to take active measures to tackle, dismantle and eliminate all terrorist organizations equally and without discrimination. The General Assembly also encouraged UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to appoint a coordinator to facilitate a more coherent, coordinated and structured approach to its international engagements on Afghanistan.
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Business Standard
an hour ago
- Business Standard
India abstains from UN resolution on Afghanistan, calls for end of terror
India abstained from voting on the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution on the situation in Afghanistan on Monday and noted that a "business as usual" approach without new and targeted initiatives is unlikely to deliver the outcomes the international community envisions for the Afghan people. The text titled "The situation in Afghanistan" was adopted by a vote of 116 in favour to 2 against (Israel, United States), with 12 abstentions. While delivering the explanation of the vote on the UNGA resolution on the situation in Afghanistan, India's Permanent Representative to the UN, Parvathaneni Harish, said that India is closely monitoring the security situation in Afghanistan and called on the international community to direct its coordinated efforts towards ensuring that entities and individuals designated by the UN no longer exploit Afghan soil for terrorist activities. He said, "India is closely monitoring the security situation in Afghanistan. The international community must direct its coordinated efforts towards ensuring that entities and individuals designated by the UN Security Council - - the Al Qaeda and their affiliates, ISIL and their affiliates, including Lashkar-e-Tayyiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, along with their regional sponsors who facilitate their operations, no longer exploit the Afghan territory for terrorist activities." The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution calling on Afghanistan to uphold human rights, adhere to international law and take decisive action against terrorism amid a worsening humanitarian crisis, rising numbers of returnees and the enduring impact of decades of conflict. Recalling recent talks between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Taliban-appointed Foreign Minister, Harish said, "On the political front, India's External Affairs Minister recently spoke with the Acting Foreign Minister of Afghanistan. We welcome the strong condemnation of the Pahalgam terrorist attack of April 22, 2025, by the Afghan side. This conversation followed a meeting between India's Foreign Secretary and the Acting Foreign Minister, where both sides discussed various bilateral issues and regional developments." He stated that India's approach to Afghanistan has always been guided by "long-standing friendship and special friendship" with the Afghans. "India's approach to Afghanistan - as its contiguous neighbour with deep historical and cultural ties - has always been guided by our longstanding friendship and special relationship with the Afghan people. As a long-standing partner, India has direct stakes in ensuring peace and stability in Afghanistan," he stated. Harish said that India has been actively engaging with regional and international stakeholders to promote peace, stability and development in Afghanistan since the UNGA last considered the issue in 2022. He further said, "We believe that international and regional consensus and cooperation on key issues concerning Afghanistan are essential. Our participation in UN meetings in Doha and other regional forums reflects our ongoing efforts, including our recent participation in the meetings held in Doha last week." He also spoke about the humanitarian assistance provided by India to Afghanistan. "India's immediate priorities in Afghanistan include the provision of humanitarian assistance and the implementation of capacity-building initiatives for the Afghan people. We have been working closely with UN agencies to support the Afghan people in critical areas such as health, food security, education and sports. India's commitment to Afghanistan's reconstruction is demonstrated through more than 500 development partnership projects across all provinces." He stated that India, since August 2021, supplied around 50,000 metric tons of wheat, over 330 metric tons of medicines and vaccines, 40,000 litres of the pesticide Malathion, and 58.6 metric tons of other essential items, supporting millions of Afghans in dire need of humanitarian assistance. He also mentioned India's efforts to provide help to Afghanistan in partnership with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime. "In partnership with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), we have provided 84 MTs of assistance and medicines and 32 MTs of social support items for drug rehabilitation programmes in Afghanistan, particularly those focused on women. India also continues to offer scholarships and fellowships to Afghan students. Since 2023, we have provided scholarships for undergraduate and postgraduate courses to 2,000 Afghan students, including nearly 600 girls and women," he said. He emphasised that any policy to address a post-conflict situation must combine a mix of policy instruments - incentivising positive behaviour and disincentivising harmful actions and an approach focused on punitive measures is unlikely to succeed. He said, "Any coherent policy to address a post-conflict situation must combine a mix of policy instruments - incentivizing positive behaviour and disincentivizing harmful actions. An approach focused only on punitive measures, in our view, is unlikely to succeed." "The United Nations and the broader international community have adopted more balanced and nuanced approaches in other post-conflict contexts. However, no new policy instruments have been introduced to address the worsening humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan since August 2021. A 'business as usual' approach, without new and targeted initiatives, is unlikely to deliver the outcomes the international community envisions for the Afghan people," he added. He emphasised India's historic ties with the people of Afghanistan and expressed commitment to meeting their humanitarian and developmental needs. He said, "I would like to reiterate India's historic ties with the people of Afghanistan and our enduring commitment to meeting their humanitarian and developmental needs. While we remain committed to continued engagement with all relevant stakeholders and broadly support the international community's efforts towards a stable, peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan, India has decided to abstain on this resolution. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
India Today
an hour ago
- India Today
We can't even see: Iran's president confirms severe damage to nuclear sites by US
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has publicly acknowledged that the US airstrikes on June 22 caused such extensive damage to three of Iran's nuclear facilities that Iranian officials still cannot access them to assess the an interview released on Monday with American conservative broadcaster Tucker Carlson, Pezeshkian said, "We don't have any access to them, we cannot see. And this access will have to wait for that." He added that Iran is open to renewed cooperation with the United Nations nuclear watchdog but cannot yet permit complete inspections at the damaged are ready to hold talks over it," Pezeshkian said. "We have never been the party that has run away from verification. We stand ready to have such supervision. Unfortunately, as a result of the United States' unlawful attacks against our nuclear centres and installations, many of the pieces of equipment and the facilities there have been severely damaged. Therefore, we don't have any access to them, we cannot see. And this access will have to wait for that." The three facilities -- Natanz, Fordow, and Isfahan -- were hit by US B-52 bombers deploying bunker-buster munitions aimed at crippling Iran's nuclear infrastructure. The strikes, ordered by President Donald Trump, were part of a broader effort to deter Iran's alleged development of nuclear remarks validate Trump's claims that the strikes dealt a devastating blow. "It was obliteration, and you'll see that," Trump had said during the NATO summit in the Netherlands. Pezeshkian's admission that Iran cannot access its own underground nuclear sites has further fuelled debate about the true scale of the US operation's a US Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) report painted a more cautious picture. First reported by CNN, the assessment concluded that while the strikes did cause "significant damage," Iran's nuclear programme had only been set back by a few months and was not "completely and fully obliterated."Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth dismissed the leak as "preliminary" and "low confidence," while Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned the leakers as "professional stabbers."- EndsWith inputs from APMust Watch
