ISLAMABAD: Afghanistan’s acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi on Friday confirmed that the interim government had facilitated talks between the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Pakistan government.
The Taliban official made these remarks at his public talk organized by the Centre for Afghanistan, Middle East and Africa (CAMEA) here at the Institute of Strategic Studies, Islamabad (ISSI).
However, he refrained from elaborating on the role of Afghanistan’s acting Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani, who used to head the Haqqani network — the most violent faction of the Taliban — in the negotiations.
Muttaqi expressed the hope that talks between the two sides would be extended and welcomed the ceasefire reached between the Pakistan government and TTP. “We hope that the temporary ceasefire agreed between the Pakistan government and TTP will lead to permanent peace,” he added.
Meanwhile, Muttaqi denied the presence of anti-Pakistan elements in his country, assuring that the Taliban-led government was making all-out efforts to ensure that Afghan soil was not used against any country.
Responding to a question about the rest of the world recognising the Taliban government and allowing women to work, Muttaqi acknowledged that initially, the Taliban government had announced conditions for women to be able to work.
“However, those were the initial days and we have progressed,” he said, claiming that all female employees in the health sector had returned to work in Afghanistan and around 75 percent were back to work in the education sector.
Talking about the international recognition, he said, “What we are experiencing is that we are being treated as the official government and we are being basically being recognised as the de-facto Afghan government.”
The foreign minister maintained that the Taliban-led government met the international standards for a government to be recognised. “Can anyone say that we have not fulfilled these requisites?” he asked rhetorically.
To another question, he maintained that the present Taliban setup was inclusive and consisted of members from multiple ethnicities. “Our government is broad-based,” Muttaqi said, adding that the Taliban government is “inclusive of all ethnic groups”.
