Extending travel ban exemptions for leaders of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) is necessary for world’s engagement with the government, China’s ambassador to the United Nations has said.

A UN Security Council waiver allowing 13 IEA leaders, including Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, to travel abroad expired last Friday, after member states failed to agree on a possible extension in the exemptions.

Zhang Jun, the Permanent Representative of China to UN, said that engagement with IEA is “very much necessary since Afghanistan is at a critical stage.”

“We cannot say that we want the Afghanistan government to do something but meanwhile we do not give them any chance to have access to the international community and we cut off their linkage with other countries. That is not reasonable,” Zhang said.

He said that China wants IEA to make efforts on ensuring the rights of women and girls, but it is “not right” to isolate the Afghan government because of the concerns in this regard.

China and Russia have called for an extension, while the United States and Western nations have sought a reduced list of IEA officials allowed to travel, claiming IEA has failed to ensure women’s rights and form an inclusive government.

“Chinese seek their own economic interests in all countries and do not involve themselves in political and military affairs. They are not at a level to have presence in a country. They are only interested in taking Afghanistan’s resources,” said Sayed Ishaq Gelani, leader of National Solidarity Movement of Afghanistan.

Anas Haqqani, a senior member of IEA, said that pressuring IEA failed over the past 20 years, and instead the world should step up engagement with the new government.

“The world still intends to confront us, it creates conspiracies, it disrupts our security. This is very disappointing. But our door of engagement is still open to them,” Haqqani aid.

The United States and allied nations have proposed granting the travel waiver to a lower number of IEA officials and limiting their travel only to Qatar, where US officials have routinely held talks with IEA delegates in recent months.

China and Russia, however, advocated allowing all 13 officials of IEA, which seized power in Afghanistan a year ago, to continue to travel.