The UN Security Council has granted permission for the Taliban’s interim foreign minister to travel to Pakistan and meet with his Pakistani and Chinese counterparts, despite being previously subject to UN sanctions. Meanwhile, representatives of almost two dozen countries and international institutions met in Qatar for talks on Afghanistan, focusing on the plight of women and girls under the Taliban administration, but the Taliban authorities were not invited to attend.
The United Nations Security Council committee has granted permission for the Taliban’s interim foreign minister, Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi, to travel to Pakistan from Afghanistan to meet with his Pakistani and Chinese counterparts. Muttaqi, who was previously subject to a travel ban, asset freeze, and arms embargo under UN Security Council sanctions, had been allowed to travel to Uzbekistan last month for a meeting of the foreign ministers of neighboring countries to discuss urgent peace, security, and stability matters. Pakistan’s UN mission requested an exemption for Muttaqi to travel between May 6 and 9 for a meeting with the foreign ministers of Pakistan and China.
While representatives of nearly two dozen countries and international institutions met in Qatar with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for talks on Afghanistan, focusing particularly on the plight of women and girls under the Taliban administration, the Taliban authorities were not invited to attend the closed-door two-day meeting in Doha. The UN meeting aims to achieve a common understanding within the international community on how to engage with the Taliban, with key discussion topics including women’s and girls’ rights, inclusive governance, countering terrorism and drug trafficking. Taliban officials have imposed rules that the UN has labeled “gender-based apartheid,” banning women from almost all secondary education and universities, preventing them from working in most government jobs, and extending the ban to working with UN agencies.
However, the Taliban administration says the ban is an internal issue that should not influence foreign dealings. The UN has ordered a review of its critical relief operation in Afghanistan, where many in the 38-million-strong population rely on food aid, in response to the situation.
