The United States has ruled out cooperation with the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) on developing the country’s mineral resources, saying Washington has no plans to engage with the Afghan authorities.

A US State Department spokesperson told media that the United States does not do business with the Islamic Emirate and has no plans to cooperate with it on Afghanistan’s mining sector.

The statement follows comments by Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, who called on the United States to invest in Afghanistan’s mining, infrastructure, agriculture and trade sectors.

Muttaqi said the Islamic Emirate welcomes US investment and urged Washington to look beyond the two decades of war in assessing relations between the two countries.

In an interview with the Financial Times, he said Afghanistan and the United States should focus on future cooperation rather than their past conflict.

Meanwhile, IEA spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said on Wednesday that Afghanistan needs good diplomatic and economic relations with Washington.

Afghanistan and Russia have discussed ways to expand economic and trade cooperation, including increasing exports of Afghan products to Russia and importing Russian machinery and technology into Afghanistan.

Afghanistan’s Minister of Industry and Commerce Nooruddin Azizi met with Nikita Kornienko, Minister of International and Interregional Cooperation of Russia’s Chelyabinsk Region, and his delegation, according to the ministry.

The talks focused on strengthening economic ties, improving coordination between traders from both sides, expanding exports of Afghan goods to Chelyabinsk, importing Russian machinery and modern technologies, and enhancing banking cooperation.

Azizi highlighted the need to increase Afghan exports to Russia and said Afghanistan was ready to establish a distribution centre for Russian goods in Afghanistan and a market for Afghan products in Chelyabinsk.

Kornienko welcomed greater trade cooperation with Afghanistan and invited a delegation from the Islamic Emirate, including private-sector representatives, to visit Chelyabinsk to help strengthen coordination between traders from both sides.

The Ministry of Industry and Commerce said the two sides described the meeting as productive and stressed the need to further expand economic and trade relations between Afghanistan and Russia.

Former Pakistani ambassador and Georgetown University adjunct professor Touqir Hussain has called for a fundamental change in Islamabad’s policy toward Afghanistan, arguing that treating the country mainly as a security issue has failed.

In an article published by Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper on Wednesday, Hussain said Afghanistan has remained a challenge for Pakistan regardless of which government has ruled in Kabul. He argued that Pakistan’s past policies have contributed to worsening the situation.

Hussain described Afghanistan as primarily a political challenge with a military dimension, rather than a military problem with a political dimension. He said ethnic tensions, the rural-urban divide, sectarian differences, ideological conflicts and competition among political and regional power groups have contributed to instability.

He also criticized the United States’ military involvement in Afghanistan, saying Washington entered the war without a clear strategy and remained involved for years despite repeated failures.

Hussain said both Afghanistan and Pakistan have suffered from decades of conflict. He argued that Afghanistan’s former political leadership also bears responsibility for the country’s current situation.

On relations between Kabul and Islamabad, Hussain said Pakistan should adopt a comprehensive strategy that combines pressure and incentives on issues including border management, refugees and trade.

He also warned Pakistan against supporting Afghan opposition groups, either independently or on behalf of Washington.

“Pakistan should never become part of another American war again,” Hussain wrote, arguing that US financial assistance cannot compensate for the losses caused by failed wars.

He said a stable relationship between Afghanistan and Pakistan is important for the security, economic future and political stability of both countries.