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Uzbekistan hoping to engage with IEA without alienating the West

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(Last Updated On: May 6, 2022)

Uzbekistan has emerged as a key interlocutor with the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), engaging with Kabul on a wide range of issues but without officially recognizing the new government.

In doing so, it has enabled Uzbekistan to explore new opportunities for economic cooperation with Afghanistan without upsetting the international community, VOA reported Friday.

Ismatulla Irgashev, special representative to Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, told VOA in an interview that his government is “working closely” with the IEA.

“We have long established solid contacts, talk regularly, [and] discuss cooperation,” he said.

Uzbekistan sees the IEA “as a reality that must be accepted,” he said.

“Imagine what happens if we don’t engage. … More conflict, another civil war, more blood, poverty, suffering, threats to the neighbors and the international community,” he stated.

Reflecting on President Mirziyoyev’s description of Afghanistan as an integral part of Central Asia, Irgashev said, “We see a common future with immense common interests, no matter who is in power there.”

Uzbekistan has meanwhile become a key hub for the delivery of humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, a move acknowledged by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in March.

Mirziyoyev recently dispatched a delegation to Washington, urging more assistance to Afghanistan. Irgashev claimed Tashkent has persuaded the European Union to return diplomats to Kabul and hopes the US will ultimately take similar steps, VOA reported.

“The Taliban (IEA) don’t want to be isolated,” Irgashev said. “They want international recognition.”

Despite calling for greater engagement with the IEA, Irgashev said Tashkent is committed to moving ahead with formal recognition but only in tandem with the international community.

“We will not recognize them alone,” he said. “When it happens, we want a collective voice and stand.”

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India says Afghan embassy issue an ‘internal matter’

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(Last Updated On: June 4, 2023)

After reports of corruption and the move by the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) to take control of Afghanistan’s embassy in New Delhi, the Indian government has said the issue is an internal matter which does not involve them.

Representatives of Afghan refugees living in India have accused officials at the Afghanistan embassy in Delhi, including the ambassador, of corruption. The embassy denies the allegations.

Indian media have also reported that the embassy resisted IEA’s move to formally take control of the embassy.

Arindam Bagchi, India’s foreign ministry spokesman, said in a press conference that the issue is an internal matter of the embassy.

“From our perspective, this is an internal matter of the Afghan Embassy, and we hope that they would resolve it internally,” Bagchi said.

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UNSC to hold meeting on Afghanistan’s situation

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(Last Updated On: June 4, 2023)

The United Arab Emirates’ Permanent Representative to the UN Lana Nusseibeh said the UN Security Council will hold a meeting on Afghanistan later this month.

Nusseibeh, who is currently President of the Security Council, said: “We will hold a comprehensive meeting on Afghanistan’s situation on June 21.

“Our focus will be concentrated on Afghanistan’s situation, women’s rights in particular, over which all the members of the Security Council have agreed,” she added.

On Thursday, Nusseibeh told media in New York that the UN Security Council will continue working on the issues of Afghanistan, especially on women’s rights.

According to the UAE ambassador, Fraidoon Oglu, the UN Special Coordinator for Afghanistan Affairs will provide a comprehensive report about the situation in the country to the Security Council in November.

This comes after Fox News reported on Friday that several US Senators have proposed a bill to tighten sanctions against IEA officials in response to human rights violations in Afghanistan.

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TTP launching attacks using Afghan soil, says Pakistan’s interior minister

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(Last Updated On: June 3, 2023)

Pakistan’s Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah has once again claimed that Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is launching attacks against the country using Afghanistan’s soil. 

“The position of the Afghan government is that they say we do not support Tehreek-e-Taliban against the government of Pakistan, but we have complaints about them, the people of this group enter Pakistan from Afghanistan; almost two months ago, they (Islamic Emirate) told us that we are moving them further away from the border so that they do not have access to attack Pakistan,” said Rana Sanaullah in an interview. 

The Islamic Emirate meanwhile has consistently emphasized that no group will be allowed to use Afghan soil against other countries.

“Afghan soil is not used against anyone and we do not allow Afghan soil to be used against Pakistan or any other country,” said Zabihullah Mujahid, IEA’s spokesman. 

“The policy of the Islamic Emirate has been analyzed in the light of Afghanistan’s issues and the country’s national interests, which is indeed a neutral and balanced policy adopted within the framework of international interests and international security,” said Hatef Mokhtar, a political analyst.

This comes after a high-ranking delegation of IEA officials, led by Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, visited Pakistan for talks. At a meeting with Pakistani officials in Islamabad, they emphasized the need for the expansion of diplomatic relations and bilateral cooperation.

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