UN adopts Afghan resolution without China’s ‘Belt and Road’
Posted Sep 17, 2019 9:49 am.
The U.N. Security Council has unanimously adopted a compromise resolution extending the U.N. political mission in Afghanistan. It drops a Chinese demand to include a reference to China’s $1 trillion “belt and road” initiative but stresses the need for regional connectivity.
China and Russia had clashed with the U.S. and other Security Council members Monday over China’s insistence on including its flagship global program in the resolution. After negotiations dragged into Monday night, a compromise was hammered out and adopted on Tuesday morning.
U.S. Ambassador Kelly Craft said the resolution would have been stronger if not for the insistence of a member state — a clear reference to China — to highlight “national political priorities.”
Germany’s U.N. Ambassador Christoph Heusgen said the resolution puts the Afghan people “in the centre.”
The Associated Press
