UAE may deal with the Taliban to run the Kabul Airport
New Delhi: With the permission of the Taliban in Afghanistan, The United Arab Emirates (UAE) government has expressed interest to run the Kabul Airport. Afghanistan-based sources have predicted that the government of the UAE may sign a deal with the Taliban soon to run the Kabul Airport.
An agreement may help the Islamist militants ease their isolation from the outside world as they govern an impoverished country beset by drought, widespread hunger, and economic crisis. The employment of local Afghanistan people at the Kabul airport could be a main priority of the UAE government. The local people in Afghanistan may have a job in security and other sectors at the airport.
The Taliban, whose government remains an international pariah without formal recognition, have courted regional powers, including Qatar and Turkey, to operate Kabul airport, landlocked Afghanistan’s main air link with the world, and others.
A Taliban transport ministry spokesman confirmed an aviation security contract had already been signed with the UAE but said the air traffic contract was not finalized or confirmed yet. UAE airlines, which have not flown to Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover last year, were expected to resume flights to Kabul and possibly other Afghan airports after the deal was finalized.
The UAE’S negotiations are part of a quiet but assertive effort by Abu Dhabi to expand longstanding ties with Afghanistan’s rulers that have included government aid and diplomatic efforts in the months since the militants took power.
(Vinayak)
