<p>India on Wednesday voted at the United Nations Security Council in favour of a resolution which sought to pave the way for providing international humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan.</p>.<p>The UNSC resolution, which was proposed by the United States, was finally adopted by the Security Council, thus granting exemptions to the sanctions on the individuals and entities related to the Taliban for one year so that the international humanitarian assistance could be rushed to Afghanistan.</p>.<p>Nearly 24 million people in Afghanistan are facing increasing food insecurity and the humanitarian crisis is aggravating after the onset of winter.</p>.<p>India – along with a few other members of the Security Council – voted in favour of the resolution, only after ensuring that the exemptions would be granted for one year.</p>.<p>An earlier draft of the resolution had no time limit, prompting India and some other nations to raise objections. The earlier draft however could not be adopted as China and Russia – two of the five veto-yielding permanent members of the council – blocked it, as the US had initially proposed to authorise case-by-case exemptions.</p>.<p><strong>Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/us-authorizes-certain-transactions-with-taliban-to-ease-flow-of-aid-to-afghanistan-1063717.html" target="_blank">US authorizes certain transactions with Taliban to ease flow of aid to Afghanistan</a></strong></p>.<p>New Delhi’s envoy to the UN, T S Tirumurti, told the Security Council that India had just sent half a million doses of vaccines and 1.6 MT of medicines to Afghanistan and was ready to deliver further urgent humanitarian aid to the conflict-ravaged country. He, however, also said that the humanitarian assistance provided by the international community should be disbursed without any discrimination and accessible to all, irrespective of ethnicity, religion and political belief.</p>.<p>New Delhi insisted that the UN Security Council should exercise oversight on delivery of such assistance and guard against diversion or misuse of funds.</p>.<p>India may soon send 50,000 MT of wheat and another consignment of medicines to Afghanistan through Pakistan. Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government in Islamabad recently agreed to allow trucks of Afghanistan to carry the humanitarian aid from India through the territory of Pakistan. The two governments are at present engaged in discussion to work out the modalities.</p>.<p>“We fully understand that some donors, aid organisations, and financial institutions are still hesitant to deliver humanitarian assistance and undertake other activities to meet basic human needs in Afghanistan due to the risks associated with providing direct or indirect benefits to UN listed individuals who now control certain ministries,” Jeffrey DeLaurentis, the senior advisor to the US mission to the UN in New York, said. “They have rightly assessed that the provision of such assistance could run afoul of UN sanctions against members of the Taliban and associated persons and entities.”</p>.<p>The resolution provides an exemption from the UN Security Council measures for freezing assets against listed members of the Taliban and associated entities solely for the provision of humanitarian assistance and other activities that support basic human needs in Afghanistan. It states that “payment of funds, other financial assets or economic resources, and the provision of goods and services necessary to ensure the timely delivery of such assistance or to support such activities are permitted”.</p>.<p>The Security Council would review the exemption in December 2022.</p>.<p>Even before the Taliban took over Kabul on August 15 last, a humanitarian crisis was already unfolding in Afghanistan, as a result of continued conflict, severe drought, Covid-19 pandemic, failing health system and economic slowdown. It worsened after the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan.</p>.<p>The UN World Food Programme estimated that one in every three Afghans had already been facing severe hunger and now 95 per cent of families were not consuming enough food. The conflict-ravaged country is on the brink of economic collapse, with the local currency at an all-time low and food prices on the rise. “Acute malnutrition is above emergency thresholds in 27 out of 34 provinces, and is expected to worsen, with almost half of children under five and a quarter of pregnant and breastfeeding women needing life-saving nutrition support in the next 12 months,” the WFP stated in a global appeal for support for Afghanistan. It estimated that it would urgently need $200 million to help people in need across Afghanistan between now and the end of the year.</p>.<p><strong>Watch latest videos by DH here:</strong></p>
<p>India on Wednesday voted at the United Nations Security Council in favour of a resolution which sought to pave the way for providing international humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan.</p>.<p>The UNSC resolution, which was proposed by the United States, was finally adopted by the Security Council, thus granting exemptions to the sanctions on the individuals and entities related to the Taliban for one year so that the international humanitarian assistance could be rushed to Afghanistan.</p>.<p>Nearly 24 million people in Afghanistan are facing increasing food insecurity and the humanitarian crisis is aggravating after the onset of winter.</p>.<p>India – along with a few other members of the Security Council – voted in favour of the resolution, only after ensuring that the exemptions would be granted for one year.</p>.<p>An earlier draft of the resolution had no time limit, prompting India and some other nations to raise objections. The earlier draft however could not be adopted as China and Russia – two of the five veto-yielding permanent members of the council – blocked it, as the US had initially proposed to authorise case-by-case exemptions.</p>.<p><strong>Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/us-authorizes-certain-transactions-with-taliban-to-ease-flow-of-aid-to-afghanistan-1063717.html" target="_blank">US authorizes certain transactions with Taliban to ease flow of aid to Afghanistan</a></strong></p>.<p>New Delhi’s envoy to the UN, T S Tirumurti, told the Security Council that India had just sent half a million doses of vaccines and 1.6 MT of medicines to Afghanistan and was ready to deliver further urgent humanitarian aid to the conflict-ravaged country. He, however, also said that the humanitarian assistance provided by the international community should be disbursed without any discrimination and accessible to all, irrespective of ethnicity, religion and political belief.</p>.<p>New Delhi insisted that the UN Security Council should exercise oversight on delivery of such assistance and guard against diversion or misuse of funds.</p>.<p>India may soon send 50,000 MT of wheat and another consignment of medicines to Afghanistan through Pakistan. Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government in Islamabad recently agreed to allow trucks of Afghanistan to carry the humanitarian aid from India through the territory of Pakistan. The two governments are at present engaged in discussion to work out the modalities.</p>.<p>“We fully understand that some donors, aid organisations, and financial institutions are still hesitant to deliver humanitarian assistance and undertake other activities to meet basic human needs in Afghanistan due to the risks associated with providing direct or indirect benefits to UN listed individuals who now control certain ministries,” Jeffrey DeLaurentis, the senior advisor to the US mission to the UN in New York, said. “They have rightly assessed that the provision of such assistance could run afoul of UN sanctions against members of the Taliban and associated persons and entities.”</p>.<p>The resolution provides an exemption from the UN Security Council measures for freezing assets against listed members of the Taliban and associated entities solely for the provision of humanitarian assistance and other activities that support basic human needs in Afghanistan. It states that “payment of funds, other financial assets or economic resources, and the provision of goods and services necessary to ensure the timely delivery of such assistance or to support such activities are permitted”.</p>.<p>The Security Council would review the exemption in December 2022.</p>.<p>Even before the Taliban took over Kabul on August 15 last, a humanitarian crisis was already unfolding in Afghanistan, as a result of continued conflict, severe drought, Covid-19 pandemic, failing health system and economic slowdown. It worsened after the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan.</p>.<p>The UN World Food Programme estimated that one in every three Afghans had already been facing severe hunger and now 95 per cent of families were not consuming enough food. The conflict-ravaged country is on the brink of economic collapse, with the local currency at an all-time low and food prices on the rise. “Acute malnutrition is above emergency thresholds in 27 out of 34 provinces, and is expected to worsen, with almost half of children under five and a quarter of pregnant and breastfeeding women needing life-saving nutrition support in the next 12 months,” the WFP stated in a global appeal for support for Afghanistan. It estimated that it would urgently need $200 million to help people in need across Afghanistan between now and the end of the year.</p>.<p><strong>Watch latest videos by DH here:</strong></p>
