Pakistan ‘’charts’’ Taliban road map for international recognition
Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi gave Taliban leaders advice on how to secure international recognition during a visit to the neighboring capital.
The high-level talks come as the Taliban face a new crisis more than nine weeks into power, with an explosion causing blackouts in the capital Kabul, home to 4.6 million people.
The Taliban overthrew the former U.S.-backed Afghan government in mid-August and has since been trying to get international support and funding for their regime.
Pakistan is one of the Taliban’s most influential interlocutors and was one of three countries that recognized its former regime in 1996.
But relations between the two neighbors have been strained since the Taliban came to power in mid-August, particularly over the introduction of airlines and border crossings for people and goods.
- Turkish mafia leader attacks Soylu
- Simplify the implementation Plan of the Cooperation Deals between Islamabad, Riyadh
“As a neighboring country and a good friend, I have informed them of the steps they can take to encourage their acceptance internationally,” Qureshi said after returning to Islamabad.
Qureshi, who was accompanied by the head of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence, said he met Taliban Prime Minister Hassan Akhund and most members of the government during his visit to Kabul on Thursday.
They discussed forming an expanded government, respecting women’s rights, girls’ need for education and fighting international terrorist organizations, he said.
- Morocco: The arrest of 4 peoples having links to claimed ISIS assault conspiracy
- Foreign Mercenaries Expelled… Libyan “5+5” Committee Holds Meeting in Syrte
“If it show some progress on these issues, it will be easier for them to recognize,” he told a news conference, adding that “the environment is improving” in order to recognize the movement’s system.
Prior to the meeting, the Taliban’s position regarding its respect for international norms came under added pressure when militants of the movement kicked and beat journalists covering a demonstration demanding women’s rights.
A group of 20 women were allowed to demonstrate in central Kabul for an hour and a half but international journalists covering the march were beaten and insulted.
Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said in a video, “We have great hope that all our trade problems will be resolved very soon and that the borders will be reopened.”
Trucks loaded with Afghan fruit were left to rot on the southern border at Spin Boldak, Afghanistan, in the past weeks after a dispute between the two countries over Pakistan’s tightening entry of Afghans into its territory.
Qureshi is the third foreign minister to visit Kabul since the Taliban came to power, after the foreign ministers of Qatar and Uzbekistan. Noting that no country has recognized the Taliban yet.
