New Delhi: The European Union on Monday informed that the Taliban will hold joint face-to-face talks with European and US envoys to get the support at international level.
EU spokeswoman Nabila Massrali said officials from the US and Europe would meet representatives of Afghanistan’s new authorities for talks facilitated by Qatar in Doha on Tuesday.
Nabila Massrali added that the meeting would allow the US and European sides to address issues including a free passage for people wanting to leave, access to humanitarian aid, respect for the rights of women, and preventing Afghanistan from becoming a haven for terrorist groups.
“This is an informal exchange at a technical level. It does not constitute recognition of the ‘interim government,” she said.
The Taliban is facing many challenges in the country like a threat from the ISIS-K, who have launched a series of deadly attacks. The Taliban badly need allies as Afghanistan’s economy is in a parlous state with international aid cut-off, food prices rising, and unemployment spikes.
A meeting with the EU was announced earlier by the Taliban’s acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, days after he led its first in-person talks with United States officials since the American pullout.
Muttaqi on relations with other nations said that “We want positive relationships with the whole world. We believe in balanced international relations. We believe such a balanced relationship can save Afghanistan from instability,”
Ahead of the talks, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said “the bloc was looking to bolster its direct aid to the Afghan people in an effort to stave off ‘collapse’. We cannot ‘wait and see’. We need to act, and act quickly.”
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged the world also to donate more money to Afghanistan to head off its economic collapse but also slammed the Taliban’s “broken” promises to Afghan women and girls.
(_Vinayak Barot)