Connect with us

Latest News

Former Pakistan envoy calls on Taliban to embrace a lasting ceasefire

Published

on

In a discussion with Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI), Asif Durrani, former Pakistan ambassador to Afghanistan, called on the Taliban to respect the demands of Afghans and to declare a lasting ceasefire.

According to Durrani, the Afghan peace talks are now entering an important phase and internal and external spoilers’ efforts to undermine the negotiations should be neutralized.

“A ceasefire should be announced by the Taliban, they should agree on a ceasefire… when you talk about intra-Afghan dialogue, the Taliban’s logic is that they will agree to a ceasefire once a peace agreement has been successfully negotiated; I do not think this is logical,” said Durrani.

Durrani also warned against a hasty withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan, adding that this could lead to another civil war in the country.

“It can! Why not? Because this is Afghanistan and those circumstances have not changed, the power play has not changed,” he said.

This comes after both Russia and China expressed concerns about a hasty withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan.

“If the US troops withdraw from Afghanistan before an agreement among Afghans [is sealed] a civil, even proxy war, will be intensified,” said Tariq Farhadi, former adviser to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.

Durrani also emphasized the need for neighborly support regarding the peace process and said that there is a strong consensus between Pakistan, US, China and Russia on the Afghan peace process.

Latest News

A high-level Russian delegation will soon visit Kabul: envoy

Kabulov and Muttaqi discussed bilateral relations between Afghanistan and Russia, especially economic cooperation, investment and transit

Published

on

Russia’s Special Representative for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov said in a meeting with Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in Kabul that a high-level Russian delegation will visit Kabul in the near future to discuss the expansion of bilateral cooperation with the Islamic Emirate.

Kabulov and Muttaqi discussed bilateral relations between Afghanistan and Russia, especially economic cooperation, investment and transit, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Muttaqi described the relations between the Islamic Emirate and Russia as important, stressing that the ties should be expanded to include economic and trade cooperation.

He said visits to Kabul by high-level officials was important, adding that during the past year, many officials of the Islamic Emirate have been invited to Russia to attend international meetings.

Meanwhile, the Russian diplomat said that his country wants to expand its relations with Afghanistan in the economic and trade sectors.

This comes on the heels of Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko’s comments that the completion of legal procedures to remove the Islamic Emirate from Moscow’s terrorist list will provide positive impetus to Russian-Afghan relations.

In an interview with Russia’s TASS news agency, published early Sunday, Rudenko said “removing the terrorist organization’s status from the Taliban Movement (Islamic Emirate) will attribute a positive impetus to Russian-Afghan interaction in various spheres, in the economy in the first instance."

"As regards the issue of the official recognition of current Afghan authorities, it is early to talk about it thus far. Let’s act gradually, step by step, but we do not intend to artificially impede the processes," Rudenko noted.

Russia has been slowly building ties with the Islamic Emirate since it regained power in Afghanistan in August 2021 but the IEA is still officially outlawed in Russia.

In response to Russia’s comments last month, the IEA’s acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said the Islamic Emirate “appreciates the positive remarks by the high-ranking officials of the Russian Federation in this regard and hope to see more effective steps soon."

 

Continue Reading

Latest News

Iran appoints new ambassador to Afghanistan

Ali Reza Begdeli, Iran’s former deputy foreign minister for consular affairs, has been appointed as the country’s new ambassador to Kabul

Published

on

Ali Reza Begdeli, Iran's former deputy foreign minister for consular affairs, has been appointed as the country's new ambassador to Kabul, Mehr news agency reported on Sunday.

The outlet added that the post of the Iranian presidential special representative in Afghanistan has been removed and, as before, the special representative for Afghanistan will act directly under the supervision of the foreign minister.

It is worth mentioning that Hassan Kazemi Qomi previously served as Iran's ambassador and presidential special representative in Afghanistan.

Continue Reading

Latest News

Iran to Host ECO Ministerial Meeting next week

Published

on

The 28th meeting of the foreign ministers of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) member states will be held in Iran’s northeastern city of Mashhad next week.

Spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry Esmaeil Baqaei said on Sunday that the upcoming meeting will be attended by the ministers and senior officials of ECO, directors of the regional specialized departments of the organization, and the secretaries general of a number of multilateral economic organizations.

The meeting will be chaired by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, Iranian local media reported.

Iran is holding the rotating presidency of ECO in 2024.

The Tehran-headquartered ECO was established by Iran, Pakistan, and Turkey in 1985.

The main purpose of the organization is to promote economic, technical, and cultural cooperation among the member states.

In 1992, the organization was expanded to include seven new members, namely Afghanistan, Republic of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2024 Ariana News. All rights reserved!