Envoy Durrani to lead Pak team at Doha meet on Afghanistan

ISLAMABAD: Ambassador Asif Durrani, Pakistan’s Special Representative on Afghanistan, will lead the Pakistan delegation at the meeting of the Special Envoys on Afghanistan to be held in Doha on Feb 18-19, 2024.

The Doha conference is the second such UN-organised gathering in less than a year. The Taliban were not invited to the session convened in May 2023.

“The meeting is being convened by the UN Secretary-General to discuss approaches for international engagement with Afghanistan in a more coherent and structured manner. Pakistan’s participation in the meeting is part of our efforts to actively engage with the international community, including the United Nations, to strengthen the efforts for lasting peace and prosperity in Afghanistan,” announced the Foreign Office.

Independent voices have been raised asking why the meeting cannot be held inside Afghanistan where Kabul specially provides a peaceful environment unlike in the past but a diplomatic source responded, “ Because the Afghan government is not recognised”.

The United States has been pushing for a United Nations Special Representative for Afghanistan, something that Kabul has not been agreeing to.

On Friday, the spokeswoman when asked said that the meeting is being convened by the UN Secretary-General to discuss approaches for international engagement with Afghanistan in a more coherent and structured manner.

“And our participation would be part of our efforts to actively engage with the international community, including the United Nations to strengthen efforts for lasting peace and prosperity in Afghanistan. Pakistan will work with the participating countries, especially the neighbours of Afghanistan to work towards our common objective for peace and prosperity inside Afghanistan” , she said.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres who is hosting the two-day session, with member states and regional organisations’ special envoys on Afghanistan in attendance, his spokesperson said that the objective of the meeting is to discuss the international engagement approach with the Taliban since they reclaimed power.

“An important aspect of the event is the intention to provide the opportunity for the special envoys to meet collectively with Afghan stakeholders, including representatives of the de facto authorities and Afghan civil society participants, including women,” Dujarric told VOA.

The United Nations according to one report said it would like to see Taliban representatives attend the two-day international conference on Afghanistan that will take place in Qatar next week, but Kabul has made their presence conditional, demanding they are received as official representatives of Afghanistan.

“If the IEA conditions are not taken into consideration, non-participation would be preferred,” said the chief Taliban diplomat.

They appear to be encouraged with China taking the lead to accept a Taliban ambassador to Beijing and sending its own to Kabul. The United States spokesperson, meanwhile, told the media when asked, “Special Representative for Afghanistan Tom West and Special Envoy for Women, Girls, and Human Rights in Afghanistan Rina Amiri attended the last UN secretary-general’s meeting of Afghanistan envoys in May of last year, and they do plan to attend the next one this month in Doha. The meeting follows the UN Security Council resolution on Afghanistan adopted in December. The United States strongly supports the resolution’s call for a UN special envoy for Afghanistan, and urges the secretary-general to appoint a special envoy as soon as possible”.