Sanctions relief will be based on Taliban’s behaviour, says U.S.

‘If they harbour terrorists or fail to uphold rights, sanctions will stay in place’

Hours after the Taliban announced a government in Kabul that included UN designated terrorists, the U.S. mission to the UN has said the UN Security Council will base any decisions on de-listing terrorists on the Taliban’s human rights policies. The U.S. position is of particular importance to India, which is not only a close neighbour of Afghanistan but also the head of the 1988 UNSC Sanctions Committee, the ‘Taliban Sanctions Committee’. Among those in the newly formed Taliban government are Prime Minister Hasan Akhund — a UN designated terrorist — and Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani, who is listed as a terrorist by both the UN and the U.S. “We stand by Resolution 2513. We are watching the Taliban's actions closely,” a U.S.-UN mission spokesperson told The Hindu via email on Tuesday.