Taliban make diplomatic inroads as Uzbekistan accredits Afghan envoy

Taliban have made diplomatic inroads yet again as another of their envoys has been accepted, this time by Uzbekistan, amid isolation from rest of the international community.

Kabul's foreign ministry said on Thursday that the Uzbekistan Foreign Minister Bakhtiyor Saidov accepted the Afghan Ambassador to Tashkent Abdul Ghafar Bahr, the only third to be accredited abroad since the Taliban seized power in 2021.

The other two were accepted by China and the United Arab Emirates.

Bahr, who formerly served as a judicial official in southern Kandahar province and Kabul, presented his credentials to the Uzbek FM on October 9.

"Bahr described the upgradation of bilateral relations as a pivotal phase, hoping for further progress", Taliban government foreign ministry spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi wrote in a post on X on Thursday.

Saidov said on the social media site the countries "share a common history and interests of prosperity that serve as an impetus for the development of cooperation ties in all areas".

On the same day, the Afghan Ministry of Mines and Petroleum signed a 10-year agreement with an Uzbek company valued at around $1 billion for the exploration and extraction of a natural gas block in northern Afghanistan.

Since the Taliban ousted the Western-backed administration in 2021, no foreign country has yet officially recognised their government.

But three years into their rule, they have been making diplomatic triumphs. 

They appeared for the first time at UN-brokered talks this summer, and have reached out to neighbouring nations to emphasise economic cooperation.