Afghanistan Reacts to ‘Formal Reception’ of Taliban in Tashkent

Afghan government criticized the ‘formal reception’ of the Taliban’s delegation in Tashkent, the capacity city of Uzbekistan. 

A Taliban delegation headed by Mullah Baradar met with Uzbekistan’s Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Khafizovich Kamilov on August 8^th in Tashkent city.

Both sides discussed the issues related to the promotion of the peaceful political process in Afghanistan in order to establish sustainable and long-term peace in the country, Uzbekistan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Afghan Foreign Ministry in a statement on Saturday objected ‘formal reception’ of the Taliban delegation in Uzbekistan.

“The formal reception of the Taliban representatives and the dynamics of the talks, do not demonstrate as facilitating peace talks between the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and Taliban representatives, by the Republic of Uzbekistan,” the statement said.

“We call upon all countries, particularly our neighbors, to respect the leadership and ownership of the people and government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in the Peace Process,” the statement concluded.

This comes as the peace talks are going on in Doha between the U.S. and Taliban’s representatives and the peace agreement is expected to be finalized and signed soon.