UNSC witnesses rare clash between China and US over Afghanistan
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NEW YORK - The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) witnessed a rare clash between China and US over Afghanistan.
UNSC has extended the mandate of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Afghanistan (UNAMA) only for six months, not as regular 12 months.
UNAMA’s mandate was not approved for 12 months due to political tensions between the United States and China who are the permanent members of the UNSC.
Based on the approved resolution, UNAMA’s mission will end on 17 September 2019.
Afghanistan’s permanent representative at the UN Adela Raz said Afghanistan is currently in a critical juncture and that support of the UNSC would help the country move forward.
“Afghanistan stands at a critical juncture,” she emphasized.
Raz went on to say that the Afghan government is committed to having a transparent electoral process and also it is working toward an Afghan-owned and Afghan-lead peace process.
Raz said Afghanistan expects the UNSC to continue its support to Kabul and help government move forward.
“We expect the Security Council to remain firmly engaged in our stabilization efforts in the way forward,” she stressed.
The UNSC resolution says that China wanted the Belt and Road initiative to be pointed to in the UNSC resolution on UNAMA’s mission extension in Afghanistan, but it did not happen as the US sees ambiguities about the project and says that China is following political goals behind the initiative.
The problem, thus, caused the UN mission to be extended only for six months.
