Envoys from the US, China, Saudi Arabia and other countries gathered in Doha on Monday for two days of closed-door talks on Afghanistan hosted by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
The meeting aims at “achieving a common understanding within the international community on how to engage with the Taliban” on various issues, including women’s and girls’ rights, the UN said.
Suhail Shaheen, the Taliban’s ambassador-designate to the UN, told Arab News: “Now, when there is no more representative of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan to present their views and to present the position of Afghanistan, so it will be difficult to resolve the issues that are palatable and acceptable to all sides.”
He added that the Taliban’s absence was one of the meeting’s “shortcomings.”
“The delegation of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan should be invited in order to seek a true solution for issues,” he said.
“But in such cases when there is no presence of our delegation, instead of solving the issue it will create or widen more the gap between the two sides.
“Right now, we do not know exactly what the demands are.”
The Taliban was open to “positive interactions” with the international community, its deputy spokesman Bilal Karimi told Agence France-Presse news agency on Monday, adding that the US “puts pressure” on countries and prevents them from “formal and open engagement” with the Afghan government.
The Taliban government has imposed increasing restrictions on women since taking over Afghanistan in 2021, including banning them from working for the UN and limiting educational opportunities for girls.
The Taliban previously said that the ban on Afghan women working for the UN was an “internal issue” that would not create obstacles to the global organization’s operations. The UN said it faced an “appalling choice” about whether it could continue its mission in the country amid widespread condemnation and calls to reverse its decisions.
The UN last month launched a review of its operations in Afghanistan following the ban on its Afghan women workers, which is expected to continue until May 5.
A United Nations Security Council committee has agreed to allow the Taliban’s interim foreign minister, Moulvi Amir Khan Muttaqi, to travel to Pakistan from Afghanistan to meet with Pakistani and Chinese counterparts, according to news reports.
The Reuters news agency reported on Monday that Pakistan’s UN mission requested an exemption for Muttaqi to travel between May 6 and 9 “for a meeting with the foreign ministers of Pakistan and China”.
Muttaqi has long been subjected to a travel ban, asset freeze and arms embargo under UN Security Council sanctions. The UN Security Council committee agreed to allow Muttaqi to travel to Uzbekistan last month for a meeting of the foreign ministers of neighbouring countries of Afghanistan to discuss urgent peace, security, and stability matters.
Afghanistan’s TOLOnews outlet said earlier on Monday that media in Pakistan were reporting on the upcoming visit and that Muttaqi would meet with Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari. Afghanistan’s foreign ministry had not yet commented on the reported trip, according to TOLOnews.
News of the Taliban official’s trip comes as representatives of nearly two dozen countries and international institutions met on Monday in Qatar with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for talks on Afghanistan, focusing particularly on the plight of women and girls under the Taliban administration.
Taliban authorities were not invited to attend the closed-door two-day meeting in Doha, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.
The meeting aims “to achieve a common understanding within the international community on how to engage with the Taliban”, said Dujarric, who noted that recognition of Taliban rule “is not up for discussion”. Key discussion topics include women’s and girls’ rights, inclusive governance, countering terrorism and drug trafficking, he said.
Since seizing power in August 2021, Taliban authorities have imposed rules that the UN has labelled “gender-based apartheid”.
“Any meeting about Afghanistan without the participation of the Afghan government is ineffective and counterproductive,” Abdul Qahar Balkhi, the Taliban foreign ministry spokesperson, told Al Jazeera.
Women have been barred from almost all secondary education and universities, and prevented from working in most government jobs. Last month, Taliban authorities extended the ban to working with UN agencies.
The Taliban administration says the ban is an “internal issue” that should not influence foreign dealings.
But, in response, the UN has ordered a review of its critical relief operation in Afghanistan, where many in the 38-million-strong population rely on food aid. The review is due to be completed on Friday. The UN has said it faces an “appalling choice” over whether to maintain its relief efforts in Afghanistan.
Guterres said on social media before leaving for Doha that “reversing all measures that restrict women’s rights to work is key to reaching the millions of people in Afghanistan that require humanitarian assistance”.
Though not invited to the talks, the head of the Taliban representative office in Doha, Sohail Shaheen, said he had met with delegation members from the United Kingdom and China. He said the UN meeting and “the importance of engagement” were among topics raised.
