Japan urges visiting Taliban official to respect human rights

TOKYO: Japan urged the Taliban government to respect human rights during a rare diplomatic meeting with a senior member of the visiting Afghan delegation, Tokyo said on Wednesday.

“Several” high-ranking Taliban officials have been invited by the Nippon Foundation, the Tokyo-based non-profit told AFP, reportedly on a week-long trip.

It is the first time that members of the Taliban government have visited Japan since their 2021 takeover in Afghanistan.

Toshihide Ando, head of the Japanese foreign ministry´s Middle Eastern and African affairs bureau, met a senior Taliban delegate on Tuesday, a ministry official told AFP. He “encouraged them to respect human rights and promote an inclusive political process”, they said.

The ministry declined to identify the Taliban official who met Ando, but Afghan media have said the group includes those overseeing higher education and foreign affairs policies.

The Taliban government makes regular visits to neighbouring and regional countries, including in Central Asia, Russia and China.

However, it has only officially visited Europe for diplomacy summits in Norway in 2022 and 2023.

Japan´s embassy in Kabul temporarily relocated to Qatar after the fall of the previous foreign-backed government and the takeover by the Taliban in 2021.