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Minister of energy in Uzbekistan for talks on electricity supplies

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Abdul Latif Mansoor, Minister of Energy and Water (MEW), has traveled to Uzbekistan to discuss the extension of the electricity purchase agreement with the neighboring country's officials.

“You know that we have a contract with Uzbekistan and the electricity supply has been reduced these days. Therefore, we are talking to them to solve this problem and we want to import more electricity to Afghanistan and the trip is for this purpose,” said Mansoor.

Officials from the ministry say that the Islamic Emirate has paid Uzbekistan for electricity and they are hoping Tashkent will increase the amount of electricity exported to Afghanistan.

“In some provinces, including the capital, there is a problem of outage of electricity, and to solve this problem, a delegation from the Ministry of Energy and Water and Da Afghanistan Breshna Company have traveled to Uzbekistan,” said Ghulam Jelani Haq Parast, director of publications of MEW.

Power outages have severely affected manufacturing companies in recent weeks, and business owners have appealed for electricity supply problems to be resolved as soon as possible.

“I hope that the visit of the Minister of Water and Electricity of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan to Uzbekistan will bring results, because Afghanistan’s industries, especially in Kabul, are in a very critical state in terms of outage of electricity,” said Sakhi Ahmad Payman, deputy head of Afghanistan’s Chamber of Industries and Mines.

“Currently, sixty to seventy percent of our factories have stopped [operations],” he added.

Meanwhile, economic experts say that imported electricity has always been a problem for Afghanistan and that the government should invest more in electricity production inside the country.

Afghanistan currently relies on Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Iran for 70 percent of its electricity, and pays millions of dollars to these countries every year.

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Suhail Shaheen meets with Chinese ambassador to Qatar

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The head of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’s (IEA) political office in Doha, Suhail Shaheen, met with China’s ambassador to Qatar late Monday for talks on bilateral relations, good neighborliness, and trade and investment opportunities between the two countries.

“About the Wakhan road, the export of Afghanistan's fresh fruit to China, the reconstruction of cold stores, China's assistance in the field of medical equipment to the Ministry of Health and good neighborliness between the two countries were discussed,” Shaheen said in a voice message.

China and the Islamic Emirate have been rapidly expanding relations in recent months.

Experts, meanwhile, have said that other countries need to engage with the IEA, as China is doing, in order for Afghanistan to come out of isolation.

Shaheen also met with Katharina Ritz, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) delegation to Afghanistan.

He discussed numerous issues including humanitarian assistance, health sector challenges and climate change.

Both sides emphasized that ICRC activities need to be expanded, considering the needs of the people.

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IFRC reports over half of Afghanistan’s population needs urgent humanitarian aid

Afghanistan ranks among the most vulnerable countries globally to climate change and disaster risks

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The International Federation of Red Crescent (IFRC) has reported that Afghanistan continues to face prolonged and complex humanitarian crises.

IFRC said in a report published on Tuesday, that about 23.7 million people, more than half of Afghanistan’s population, are in urgent need of humanitarian aid.

According to the IFRC, natural disasters, the growing impact of climate change, population displacement, economic challenges, and food insecurity are the main factors contributing to Afghanistan’s ongoing humanitarian crisis.

Afghanistan ranks among the most vulnerable countries globally to climate change and disaster risks. 

The country is also prone to earthquakes, with nearly 400 tremors recorded in the last three years, including significant quakes, such as the 6.3 magnitude in Herat Province in October last year.

The compounding effects of disasters in the country have exacerbated the already fragile situation in Afghanistan, the IFRC’s report read. 

These successive disasters have pushed more Afghans into poverty and heightened their vulnerability. 

In addition, Afghanistan’s economic crisis is widespread, with more than half of households experiencing an economic shock. 

The country’s economy is heavily dependent on foreign aid and remittances, which have declined significantly since the political change in 2021. 

This has resulted in high levels of unemployment, challenging people’s coping mechanisms and thwarting the already fragile economy’s ability to adapt to shocks, the report read.

The IFRC said more than 85 percent of the country’s population is now living below the poverty line.

 

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Maldives recalls envoy to Pakistan over meeting with Afghanistan envoy

The island nation’s foreign ministry said the much publicized meeting had not been sanctioned by the government

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The Maldives government has recalled its top diplomat in Pakistan after he had an unauthorized meeting with an Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan envoy in Islamabad. 

The island nation’s foreign ministry said the much publicized meeting between the Maldives High Commissioner Mohamed Thoha and IEA envoy Sardar Ahmad Shakeeb on Friday had not been sanctioned by the government.

Maldives media reported that the foreign ministry stated: “Consequently, appropriate action has been taken by the government of Maldives.” 

Thoha’s name has also been removed from the website of the Maldives mission in Islamabad, and an official source told AFP that he had been recalled.

Since regained control of Afghanistan in August 2021, no country has yet officially recognized the government.

However, the IEA has been making inroads into the diplomatic arena and has official missions now stationed in a number of regional countries. 

 

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