IEA responds to UN’s decision to delay seat for Afghanistan

The UN General Assembly on Monday adopted a resolution to delay a decision on who will represent Afghanistan and Myanmar at the world body.

In response, the Afghan Foreign Ministry said the United Nations’ move denies the legitimate rights of the Afghan people and is useless and has no legal basis.

“The new Afghan government, as an accountable authority with sovereignty over entire Afghanistan, which has ensured security for all Afghans has a legitimate right to represent the Afghan people in the UN,” Abdul Qahar Balkhi, MoFA Spokesperson said in a series of tweets.

The UN assembly agreed to defer action, which means the current ambassadors for the two countries will remain in place for the time being.

But Balkhi said that: “Giving Afghanistan’s seat in the UN to an individual with no working relation with Kabul & no authority over any part of Afghan territory is deemed a blatant denial of the Afghan people’s legitimate right.,”

Balkhi also said that is of no benefit to anyone and ihas no legal basis.

This comes after the IEA authorities in Afghanistan, as well as the military rulers in Myanmar, had sought to replace the envoys, who were appointed by democratically-elected governments that were deposed this year.

The resolution was adopted without a vote and follows a meeting held last week by the UN Credentials Committee, which approves diplomatic representation of all 193 Member States.

The Committee chair, Ambassador Anna Karin Eneström of Sweden, introduced its report.

“The Committee deferred its decision on the credentials pertaining to the representatives of Myanmar and on the credentials pertaining to the representatives of Afghanistan to the seventy-sixth session of the General Assembly,” she said.

The UN remains focused on assisting the people of Afghanistan, where the IEA seized power in August. Needs have risen sharply, with some 23 million people requiring humanitarian assistance.