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On Wednesday, a Taliban delegation led by acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi arrived in Islamabad to meet with Pakistani leaders. Since the Sunni Pashtun group surged to power in Kabul, this is the first time Afghan authorities have visited Pakistan.
The focus of the three-day visit, according to Pakistan’s foreign ministry, would be on bilateral relations, with discussions on improving commerce, cross-border movement, land and aviation links, people-to-people interactions, and regional connectivity. Muttaqi will also meet with Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Pakistan’s foreign minister.
The trip comes after Qureshi’s October 21 visit to Kabul.
It comes as Pakistan hosts the Troika Plus meeting on Afghanistan, which brings together special representatives from China, Russia, and the United States. The meeting is set for Thursday, and Muttaqi is anticipated to meet with these countries’ special representatives.
Minister of Finance Hidayatullah Badri, Minister of Industries and Trade Nooruddin Aziz, and senior officials from the Ministry of Aviation are among the 20-member group led by Muttaqi.
Since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan on August 15, Pakistan has been seeking to persuade the international community to engage with them diplomatically. No country, however, has acknowledged Afghanistan’s government.
Discussions on the growing situation in Afghanistan, particularly the security situation and its regional and global repercussions, were conducted at a meeting of top security officials held in India on Wednesday. Ajit Doval, the National Security Advisor, presided over the meeting, which included NSAs and secretaries of security councils from Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan, as well as Russia and Iran.
They then issued a joint statement emphasising the importance of preserving Afghanistan’s territorial integrity and rejecting outside meddling – a clear warning to Pakistan – as well as calling for regional collaboration to combat the threat of radicalization and extremism. The NSAs also advised the Taliban to establish an independent and inclusive regime in Afghanistan.
