India has extended full support to the people of Afghanistan but it has decided against offering any financial aid to the new dispensation led by the Taliban.
This is probably for the first since the Taliban lost control over Kabul two decades ago, India has decided not to pledge any money to Afghanistan, Times of India reported.
However, Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar on Monday said that India will stand with the people of Afghanistan adding that it is essential to provide humanitarian assistance without any restriction to the country.
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The Indian Foreign Minister was addressing a high-level UN meeting on Afghanistan where he said that the UNSC resolution 2593 should “guide the international community with regard to the Afghanistan situation.
He further said that India has been monitoring the situation in Afghanistan. He then called for normalization of commercial operation on Kabul airport, through which people who have been stranded in Afghanistan can carve a safe passage, he said.
“As an immediate neighbour, India is monitoring developments in Afghanistan with "understandable concerns," he said. Jaishankar called for “normalization of regular commercial operations of Kabul airport” which could help the flow of relief material to Afghans. The issues of travel, a safe passage that can emerge as obstacles to humanitarian aid should be immediately sorted out, he said.
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“There is a sea change in Afghanistan's political, economic, social and security situation, and consequently it's humanitarian needs,” Jaishankar said. According to a recent UNDP report, anything from 72 to 97 per cent of the Afghan population could slip into poverty.
UK’s foreign secretary Dominic Raab said that he feared that Afghanistan would collapse as well as regional instability. "We will not give aid directly to the Taliban therefore it is crucial that aid organizations can act freely and safely,” he said. That seemed to be the overriding theme — allow unimpeded access to Afghanistan, allow people to freely leave if they want.
Meanwhile, Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that Afghanistan’s governmental funds that have been parked overseas should be returned to the Taliban for it to function smoothly. Since there is little international trust in the Taliban government right now, that may be a while away.
