IEA-MoFA statement regarding SRSG briefing to the UNSC

We welcome parts of the statement by SRSG to the UNSC acknowledging the positive changes that have taken shape in Afghanistan such as the effective ban on narcotics, macro-economic stability, elimination of corruption, access to education for girls in some spaces, collection of revenues, payment of salaries, significant improvement in security and concerted efforts against Daesh.

The SRSG’s statement made some efforts to reflect the complex ground realities of Afghanistan, unlike the recent report by the Monitoring Team of the Sanctions Committee and Special Rapporteur on Human Rights, which were both riddled with inaccuracies and heavily tilted to reflect political agendas of some actors.

We take note of the complexities of Afghanistan as highlighted in the statement, and reiterate that, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan remains committed to international norms and obligations that do not contradict the principles of Islamic law, or contravene Afghanistan’s cultural norms or undermine our national interests. We, therefore, urge all actors to respect the peremptory norm of non-interference and cease all attempts at meddling in our internal affairs, including the modalities and composition of our governance and laws.

To end, we stress that the government of Afghanistan remains committed to establishing security, securing borders, preventing threat emanation, ensuring access to justice, combatting trafficking and eliminating narcotics. It is now up to the international community to also fulfill their responsibilities by observing the fundamental principle of non-interference, stopping other sides from threatening our national security, combatting all forms of trafficking and narcotics, and commitment of not interfering in our internal affairs.