India slams UNSC for not designating Taliban leader as terrorist

In a veiled reference to Pakistan, India said perpetrators of violence in Afghanistan must not be allowed safe havens in its neighbourhood, as it slammed UNSC’s sanctions regime for not designating the leader of Taliban as terrorist, calling such an approach a “mystery.” 

“The fact that the leader of Taliban – a proscribed entity – is not yet designated as a terrorist individual remains a mystery to us. Can we know the rationale for such an approach,” Deputy Permanent Representative Ambassador Tanmaya Lal said at a Security Council debate on Afghanistan here.

The Taliban had named Mawlawi Haibatullah Akhundzada, a conservative cleric in his 50s, as its new leader after Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour was killed in a US drone strike in May. Akhundzada is not on any terrorist designated list.

Also, Lal asked if the response to India’s queries on the functioning of the UN sanctions regime will be a “deafening silence” as was the case when the Security Council Committee 1988, which deals with issues relating to Afghanistan, had met last month, with no info about what was discussed in the meeting.