THE Taliban called on the US and other countries yesterday to recognise their government in Afghanistan, saying that a failure to do so and the continued freezing of Afghan funds abroad would lead to problems not only for the country but for the world.
No country has formally recognised the Taliban government since the group took over the country in August, while billions of dollars in Afghan assets and funds abroad have also been frozen, even as the country faces severe economic and humanitarian crises.
“Our message to America is, if unrecognition continues, Afghan problems continue, it is the problem of the region and could turn into a problem for the world,” Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid told journalists at a news conference yesterday.
He said the reason the Taliban and the US went to war last time was also because the two did not have formal diplomatic ties. The US invaded Afghanistan in 2001 following the Sept. 11, 2001, attack after the then-Taliban government refused to hand over al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.
“Those issues which caused the war, they could have been solved through negotiation, they could have been solved through political compromise too,” Mujahid said. He added that recognition was the right of the Afghan people.
China will not take the lead in recognising Afghanistan’s Taliban government and will only do so in a concerted move with Pakistan, Russia and Iran, an expert familiar with China’s foreign policy considerations said. – Oct 31, 2021
