Afghanistan will showcase goods, made in the country, at the KhazanForum in Russia next month, the Russian Economic Development Ministry’s department director Pavel Kalmychek said.

“The government of Tatarstan agreed to provide a platform for an exposition of goods from Afghanistan, there will be an exposition. I am confident that it will generate a certain interest, especially in the light of the recent decisions on lifting the ban on the Taliban (Islamic Emirate),” TASS quoted him as saying.

This comes after Russia’s Supreme Court last week scratched the Islamic Emirate from its list of banned organizations.

Zamir Kabulov, Russia’s special envoy for Afghanistan, confirmed recently that a Russian-Afghan business forum will be held on the sidelines of the KazanForum.

He said Russia’s delegation would be led by Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk, while Afghanistan would be represented at a high government and business level, TASS reported.

The 16th International Economic Forum ‘Russia – Islamic World: KazanForum’ will take place on May 13-18 in Kazan.

The main theme for this year has been defined as ‘Digitalization: New Reality and Additional Opportunities for Expanding Cooperation’.

An Afghan-American attorney, Mary Kabir-Seraj Bischoping, has been named deputy assistant secretary of state for Afghanistan and will oversee Washington’s foreign policy on Afghanistan under the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs at the US State Department.

Previously, US engagement on Afghanistan was led by Thomas West, former Special Representative for Afghanistan, and Rina Amiri, who served as Special Envoy for Afghan Women, Girls, and Human Rights.

Bischoping, 33, is a descendant of the Barakzai royal dynasty, which ruled Afghanistan from 1823 to 1978 and is the great-granddaughter of King Amanullah Khan and Queen Soraya Tarzi. Her grandmother was Latifa Kabir Seraj, one of Afghanistan’s first female journalists.

Bischoping, is her married name, which comes from her German-American husband. She was born and raised in California.

According to a biography released by the University of Virginia, Bischoping’s family fled Afghanistan after the Soviet invasion in 1979. Her parents completed their education in Europe before settling in Southern California.

Bischoping earned her undergraduate degree in Political Science from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 2016 and later received her Juris Doctor (JD) from the University of Virginia School of Law. She is fluent in English, Persian and German.

Following the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, Bischoping joined the Office of the Legal Adviser at the State Department. In 2023, she was appointed Senior Counsel to the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, where she led Republican-led oversight investigations into the Afghanistan withdrawal and advised on regional strategy.

Prior to her Congressional role, Bischoping served as a legal adviser at the State Department, clerked for Judge Kent A. Jordan on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and worked at major law firms including Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and Willkie Farr & Gallagher in New York.

Her appointment to this high-level diplomatic post reflects a combination of legal expertise, policy experience, and a personal understanding of Afghanistan’s complex history—positioning her to play a key role in shaping future U.S. engagement with the region.

The Russian Ambassador to Kabul Dmitry Zhirnov has invited the Acting Minister of Energy and Water of the Islamic Emirate, Abdul Latif Mansoor, to attend the upcoming Kazan Economic Forum, scheduled to be held in May this year.

According to a statement issued by the ministry, Acting Minister Abdul Latif Mansoor accepted the invitation and in return urged Russian-state owned companies and private businesses to invest in Afghanistan’s water and energy projects, particularly the project aimed at transferring water from Panjshir province to Kabul.

Mansoor also expressed his appreciation for Russia’s recent decision to remove the Islamic Emirate from its list of banned organizations.

The Russian government officially delisted the Islamic Emirate as a banned group a few days ago — a move that experts believe will pave the way for expanded cooperation between Kabul and Moscow across various sectors.