India and Australia discuss Taliban's rise and its challenges

With uncertainty prevailing in Afghanistan, India and Australia on Friday discussed the ongoing situation in the war-ravaged country, including the plight of women and minorities.

During their bilateral meeting, sources said that Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Australian counterpart Peter Dutton discussed the Afghan crisis following the fall of the democratic-elected Ashraf Ghani government and its takeover by the Taliban on August 15. 

As per the sources, the Indian side informed Dutton that New Delhi is closely monitoring the ongoing situation. 

"Taliban's rise raises the question on issues like terror activities, women and minority rights and human rights violation," the sources said. 

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In the meeting, New Delhi called for the implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2593.

On August 30, under India's presidency, the UNSCs adopted its 2593 resolution, which demanded that Afghan territory not be used to threaten or attack any country and reiterated the importance of combating terrorism in Afghanistan, including those individuals and entities designated under resolution 1267 and noted the Taliban’s relevant commitments. 

The resolution also called for strengthened efforts to provide humanitarian assistance and underlined that all parties must respect their obligations under international humanitarian law. It had also asked to uphold the human rights of women, children and minorities. 

The UNSCR 2593 had also taken note of the Taliban statement that Afghans will be able to travel abroad in an unhindered manner. 

As per an expert, it is a matter of grave concern after the Taliban announced a 33-member government earlier this week. Out of 33, 17 ministers are on the UN terror list. Since terrorism continues to pose a serious threat to Afghanistan, India has been raising this issue at different forums.

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• India Australia
• Taliban
• Afghanistan
• Human rights
• security
• terrorism
• UNSC resolution
• Peter Dutton
• Rajnath Singh
• Afghan women