The provisional government of Afghanistan formed by the radical Taliban movement (banned in the Russian Federation) which took power in the country, welcomes the consultations on Afghanistan in the Moscow format on Wednesday, the Taliban Foreign Ministry said in a statement issued on Thursday.
"The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the name of the state used by the Taliban - TASS) welcomes constructive regional mechanisms on Afghanistan and considers it a worthy position that the focus of the meeting was on a peaceful, united, sovereign, independent and economically developed Afghanistan," reads the statement timed to the Moscow format meeting. The new Afghan authorities also welcomed that the participants of the Moscow format focused on "stepping up efforts to provide humanitarian and economic assistance to the Afghan people in the post-conflict reconstruction of the country."
The Taliban believes that their participation in talks such as the Moscow format would have made the meetings more effective. "The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan believes that all countries in the region are responsible for the security, stability and economic prosperity of the region. Accordingly, the participation of representatives of the [interim] government of Afghanistan in such meetings as an important country in the region could make them more comprehensive and effective," the text of the statement reads.
The Moscow format on Afghanistan includes Russia, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Representatives of Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey attended Wednesday's meeting as guests. The previous meeting of the Moscow format was held on October 20, 2021. A delegation headed by Abdul Salam Hanafi, deputy chairman of the interim Taliban government, took part then. However, Russian President's Special Representative for Afghanistan and Director of the Second Asian Department of the Foreign Ministry Zamir Kabulov earlier reported that the Taliban would not attend the event this time. According to him, the authorities in Kabul will be informed of the results of the consultations.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: ICMA Photos/Creative Commons 2.0
Based on materials from TASS