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Uzbekistan hoping to engage with IEA without alienating the West
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Uzbekistan has emerged as a key interlocutor with the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), engaging with Kabul on a wide range of issues but without officially recognizing the new government.
In doing so, it has enabled Uzbekistan to explore new opportunities for economic cooperation with Afghanistan without upsetting the international community, VOA reported Friday.
Ismatulla Irgashev, special representative to Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, told VOA in an interview that his government is “working closely” with the IEA.
“We have long established solid contacts, talk regularly, [and] discuss cooperation,” he said.
Uzbekistan sees the IEA “as a reality that must be accepted,” he said.
“Imagine what happens if we don’t engage. … More conflict, another civil war, more blood, poverty, suffering, threats to the neighbors and the international community,” he stated.
Reflecting on President Mirziyoyev’s description of Afghanistan as an integral part of Central Asia, Irgashev said, “We see a common future with immense common interests, no matter who is in power there.”
Uzbekistan has meanwhile become a key hub for the delivery of humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, a move acknowledged by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in March.
Mirziyoyev recently dispatched a delegation to Washington, urging more assistance to Afghanistan. Irgashev claimed Tashkent has persuaded the European Union to return diplomats to Kabul and hopes the US will ultimately take similar steps, VOA reported.
“The Taliban (IEA) don’t want to be isolated,” Irgashev said. “They want international recognition.”
Despite calling for greater engagement with the IEA, Irgashev said Tashkent is committed to moving ahead with formal recognition but only in tandem with the international community.
“We will not recognize them alone,” he said. “When it happens, we want a collective voice and stand.”
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Female foreign ministers from 17 countries call on IEA to repeal laws affecting women
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Female foreign ministers from 17 countries have called on the Islamic Emirate to repeal the laws restricting women and girls in Afghanistan.
In a joint statement issued on Saturday, on the situation of women and girls in the country, the group of foreign ministers denounced the Islamic Emirate’s “morality laws”.
“We denounce and call for the repeal of the Taliban’s (IEA) so called ‘Morality Laws’, which have exacerbated existing restrictions for Afghan women and girls,” the statement read.
“These decrees aim literally to silence Afghan women and girls and confine them to their homes. There is no viable future—no long-term peace, prosperity, or legitimacy—for any state that seeks to effectively erase women from public life.”
In reaction, the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice said that Western countries have a double standard on the issue of human rights and are using it as a tool to pressure the Islamic Emirate.
“If such ministry does not exist in an Islamic system or Islamic society, we cannot call it an Islamic system or Islamic society,” Saif-ul-Islam Khaibar, the ministry’s spokesman, said.
“Those who demand the abolition of this ministry are actually acting against Islamic values, religion, nation, and identity of Afghans, which is unacceptable to all. Instead of making allegations against this ministry, they should adhere to human rights in their own laws.”
In their joint statement, the female foreign ministers also said that the Islamic Emirate’s “systematic exclusion of girls from school—including by barring education for girls above sixth grade—deprives millions of women and girls of their right to education.”
“We encourage all countries to advocate for the full, equal, meaningful, and safe participation of Afghan women in discussions on Afghanistan’s future, including in the U.N.-facilitated Doha process,” the statement said.
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IEA officials on way to Japan
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A delegation of senior Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) officials was expected to arrive in Tokyo on Sunday in what is the IEA’s first visit to Japan since they regained power in August 2021.
According to Japanese media, the delegation consists of around six government officials in charge of diplomacy, healthcare, education, cultural properties and other policies.
This visit was in response to an invitation offered by an executive of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation and Tadamichi Yamamoto, former head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), last year.
Reports state that the delegation will likely request more humanitarian support and may also discuss ties between Japan and Afghanistan with Japanese government officials.
Japan continues to maintain diplomatic functions in Afghanistan and has provided support for medical facilities through the United Nations.
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Ministry of Refugees condemns forced evacuation of Afghans in Balochistan, Pakistan
The statement added that among the people deported by the Pakistani police, 65 were children and 30 were Afghan women.
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The Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation on Sunday condemned the forced evacuation of Afghan refugees from their homes in Balochistan province, Pakistan.
The Ministry of Refugees’ statement said that on February 15, Pakistani police raided the homes of a number of Afghan refugees in the Quetta and Kuchlak areas of Balochistan province.
The raids took place at night and officials forcibly evicted and mistreated a number of Afghan refugees.
The statement added that among the people deported by the Pakistani police, 65 were children and 30 were Afghan women.
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