In the 76th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) which is ongoing in New York City, the political situation in Afghanistan, COVID-19 and issues around climate change dominated the summit.
The meeting is being chaired by Maldives and includes leaders and representatives from over onr hundred countries.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres at the meeting called for cooperation on tackling world’s problems.
“We face a moment of truth. Now is the time to deliver, now is the time to restart trust, and now is the time to inspire hope, and I do have hope. The problems we have created are the problems we can solve,” Guterres said.
US President Joe Biden talking at the meeting said the United States has ended its war in Afghanistan and now will engage diplomatically.
“We have ended 20 years of conflict in Afghanistan and as we close this war, we are opening doors of diplomacy,” he said.
Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi, however, said the US soldiers did not leave Afghanistan willingly, but they were forced to leave.
“Today the United States does not withdraw (willingly) from Afghanistan and Iraq, but it was forced to do so,” he said.
Turkey and Qatar called for international engagement with Afghanistan and for the support of the people of Afghanistan at this critical time.
Sheikh Tamim bin Al-Thani, Qatar’s Emir, said the world should engage with the Taliban because dialogue is better than boycotting. “It’s also important to continue dialogue with the Taliban. Boycotting them would only lead to polarisation and reactions, whereas dialogue could be fruitful,” he said.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan also speaking at the meeting said Afghanistan’s problem should be solved by considering the facts on the ground, adding that Turkey will support Afghanistan. “We have tragically witnessed once again in Afghanistan how solutions that ignore reality and collide with the social fabric of the people ultimately fail. The Afghan people have been forced to face alone the consequences of instability that has been ongoing for more than 40 years,” he said.
In the meantime, the caretaker cabinet has appointed Suhail Shaheen, from the Taliban’s political office, as Afghanistan’s envoy to the UN and has also asked for its foreign minister Ameer Khan Muttaqi to speak to the UNGA, according to Reuters.
Previously, however, Guterres’ spokesman has said that Afghanistan’s current envoy to the UN will represent Afghanistan at the UNGA.
