Afghanistan’s interim government officials to attend meeting
Islamabad, Nov 17 (Asia Free Press): The third ministerial meeting of Afghanistan’s neighbours which included the Afghanistan’s interim government officials would be held next year 2022 in China, local media reported.
Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi confirmed that Taliban officials would be invited to attend third ministerial meeting of Afghanistan’s neighbours.
“Afghanistan’s interim government will also be invited to the next meeting of Afghanistan’s neighbours,” Qureshi stated this at the sidelines of a meeting of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee.
Pakistan has supposedly developed a new mechanism for consultations among Afghanistan’s neighbours after the Taliban took over this August.
The format includes China, Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, besides Russia. The inaugural meeting was held in Islamabad on September 8, while the second meeting was hosted by Iran on October 27.
The Taliban were not invited to either of the meetings as the interim government lacks international recognition. However, countries around the world are increasingly engaging with the Taliban government.
Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi visited Islamabad along with a delegation last week and participated in the extended Troika meeting on Afghanistan with the representatives from China, Pakistan, United States and Russia. While speaking at a meeting in Islamabad last week, Mr Muttaqi said, de facto recognition for the Taliban was already there and hoped that de jure acceptance would follow soon.
Although dates have not been finalised, the next meeting is likely to be held early next year in China. According to the Pakistan top newspaper Dawn several countries are increasingly engaging with the interim government despite the Taliban’s lack of international recognition. The report stated that several foreign ministers visited Kabul in recent weeks, and members of the Extended Troika format on Afghanistan met Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi on the sidelines of their meeting in Islamabad last week. At present, the Extended Troika includes Russia, China, Pakistan and the United States.
It was worth mentioned here that last month, members of the Extended Troika format assembled in Moscow and discussed several key issues. The participants discussed mutual security threats and highlighted a shared desire to provide immediate humanitarian and economic aid to Afghanistan. The United States, on the other hand, did not attend the meeting.
