US, Taliban delegations to meet in Doha today

KABUL: The delegations of the Islamic Emirate and the US are set to meet in Qatar’s capital Doha on Saturday.

The Islamic Emirate delegation, led by acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, visited Doha on Thursday. The delegation will meet with representatives of the European Union as well. “The delegation consists of representatives of the Ministries of Education, Health, Finance, Security, and Da Afghanistan Bank,” said Abdul Qahar Balkhi, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry. Islamabad praised the resumption of talks between Washington and the Islamic Emirate and once again urged the international community to engage with the current Afghan government.

“Our message is clear, past mistakes must not be repeated. Afghanistan must not be abandoned. Humanitarian crisis and economic collapse in Afghanistan will have enormous consequences for the rest of the world,” said Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Pakistan’s foreign minister. “The international community must, therefore, remain positively engaged to avert the crisis.” Deputy Spokesman for the Islamic Emirate, Ahmadullah Wasiq, said that the delegation would exchange views on a number of issues in a two-day meeting.

“The start of relations with the Afghans should be meaningful. The commitments which are made in this regard, should become practical,” he said. Political analysts called the meeting important, and urged the government to take advantage of such opportunities to overcome the existing crisis in the country. “We can’t have more expectations from this meeting because the Americans use economic pressure as an instrument for their foreign policy,” said Latif Nazari, a political analyst. It has also been announced that the Russian foreign minister would participate in the Organization for Security Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). On December 2-3, Russian FM Sergey Lavrov plans to take part in the 28th meeting of the OSCE Council of Foreign Ministers, which will be held in Stockholm.