India seeks "enabling environment" in Afghanistan to provide humanitarian aid

India on Monday stressed on creating an “enabling environment” in Afghanistan for the international community to send humanitarian aid for the people of the war-torn country, even as it refrained from making a specific pledge in response to an appeal by the United Nations.

The UN urged the world to raise $606 million to respond to the unfolding humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, where the Taliban returned to power through a military campaign across the country taking advantage of the withdrawal of troops by the United States and its NATO allies. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres announced a $20 million allocation from the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund to provide humanitarian aid to the country. The US pledged $64 million to support the UN to respond to the crisis in Afghanistan.

“Today, I wish to underline that in the face of a grave emerging situation India is willing to stand by the Afghan people, just as in the past,” External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said, virtually addressing a meeting convened by the UN Secretary General on the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan. “To ensure that this happens speedily and effectively, we believe that the international community must come together to create the best possible enabling environment.”

The UN warned that the food supplies could run out in Afghanistan by September 30 and, according to an estimate by the World Food Programme, nearly 14 million people in the country were already on the brink of starvation.

“Among the challenges that the current situation poses is that of efficient logistics. It is therefore essential that humanitarian assistance providers are accorded unimpeded, unrestricted and direct access to Afghanistan,” Jaishankar said as he represented the Government of India in the meeting.

“Once relief materials reach that country, the world will naturally expect a non-discriminatory distribution of humanitarian assistance across all sections of the Afghan society,” the External Affairs Minister said. “Only the United Nations has the capacity to monitor such endeavours and reassure donors. As the picture becomes clear in respect of the legitimate concerns I am confident that the world will step forward and assist the Afghan people in their hour of need.”

He also referred to India’s $3 billion investment in the development projects in Afghanistan over the past 20 years.

The United Nations Development Programme recently assessed that there is an imminent threat of poverty levels rising from 72 to 97% in that country, Jaishankar noted.

The UN Under-Secretary for Humanitarian Affairs, Martin Griffiths, told the conference that the Taliban had provided assurance that the workers of the aid agencies would be provided freedom of movements and safe passage in Afghanistan. But Linda Thomas Greenfield, the US envoy to the UN, said that the aid agencies could do their job only if the Taliban upheld its promises. She also said that all the aid operations needed to be independently monitored, reported upon and made secure.

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