According to diplomats, Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Taliban government’s foreign minister, will be authorized to travel to Pakistan from Afghanistan. The trip next week to meet with the foreign ministers of Pakistan and China, after authorisation from a United Nations Security Council committee on Monday.
Muttaqi has been sanctioned by the Security Council with a travel restriction, asset freeze, and a weapons embargo.
Pakistan’s UN envoy requested an exemption for Muttaqi’s travel between May 6 and 9 in a letter to the 15-member Security Council Taliban sanctions committee “for a meeting with the foreign ministers of Pakistan and China.”
It was not disclosed what the ministers will be discussing. Muttaqi’s trip is claimed to be totally financed by Pakistan.
Both China and Pakistan have previously said that they would welcome the inclusion of Afghanistan under Taliban control in the vast CPEC infrastructure project, which is part of the Belt and Road Initiative and would cost hundreds of billions of dollars
Afghanistan possesses natural resources worth billions and is located on a crucial trade and transit route connecting South/Central Asia. The Taliban gained power in August 2021, after US-led soldiers left after 20 years of fighting.
Last month, the foreign ministers of Afghanistan’s neighboring countries convened in Uzbekistan to address important problems of peace. Security, and stability, and Muttaqi’s request to participate was authorized by the Security Council committee.
As U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric put it, “to achieve a common understanding within the international community on how to engage with the Taliban,” Secretary-General Antonio Guterres started off a two-day summit in Doha on Monday with special envoys for Afghanistan from various countries.
Human rights, especially women’s and girls’ rights, inclusive governance, combating terrorism. Drug trafficking are just a few of the themes that Dujarric indicated would be tackled during the closed-door meeting.
China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Norway, Pakistan, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan. The UAE, the United Kingdom, the United States, Uzbekistan, the EU, and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation are all involved.
Doha’s invitation list did not include the Taliban regime.
