Less than two weeks since the Taliban captured power in Afghanistan
, the United Nations Security Council has dropped a reference to it from a paragraph in its statement that called on Afghan groups not to support terrorists "operating on the territory of any other country".
Essentially, this is the first signal by the international community that the Taliban may no longer be a global outcast.
On August 16, a day after Taliban's takeover of Kabul, the Permanent Representative of India at the UN, T S Tirumurti, issued a statement on behalf of the UNSC, which included this para:
"The members of the Security Council reaffirmed the importance of combating terrorism in Afghanistan to ensure the territory of Afghanistan should not be used to threaten or attack any country, and that neither the Taliban nor any other Afghan group or individual should support terrorists operating on the territory of any other country."
On August 27, a day after the Kabul airport bombings that killed more than 100 people including 12 US troops, Tirumurti -- again as President of UNSC, and on behalf of the Council -- issued a statement that condemned the "deplorable attacks".
However, the August 16 para was reproduced in this statement with one telling change: "The members of the Security Council reiterated the importance of combating terrorism in Afghanistan to ensure the territory of Afghanistan should not be used to threaten or attack any country, and that no Afghan group or individual should support terrorists operating on the territory of any country."
The reference to the Taliban was omitted indicating that the Taliban was perhaps being seen as a state actor by the UNSC members, including India.
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