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Kabul, Afghanistan
India participated in the first international meeting hosted by Afghanistan's Taliban regime on Monday (Jan 29) which was the first since returning to power in Kabul in 2021.
The meeting was aimed at promoting economic connectivity and cooperation with regional countries on "common challenges".
Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi hosted representatives of India, China, Russia, Pakistan, and Iran among others.
He proposed "regional peace talks to increase and continue positive interaction with Afghanistan", calling for "constructive engagement" with the international community.
He, however, rejected the need for the appointment of a United Nations special envoy to Afghanistan despite the fact that the UN Security Council in December passed a resolution calling for the appointment of a special envoy for the South Asian nation.
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Muttaqi told reporters: "The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan respects others' interests, choices, government structures, and development models, and in return, expects others to respect Afghanistan's interests."
In 2021, the Taliban reclaimed power, but it didn't get recognition from the international community.
The world avoided recognising the Afghan government majorly due to its restrictions on women's basic rights and other human rights violations.
In the absence of global recognition, Afghanistan's economy has struggled through decades of war. The nation was also crippled because of international sanctions on the banking system and foreign assets after the Taliban government came to power.
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He spoke in his local language, but his office released the English translation in a statement.
"FM Muttaqi stressed that regional countries should hold regional peace talks to increase and continue positive interaction with Afghanistan, adding Mr. Muttaqi asked the participants to take advantage of the emerging opportunities in Afghanistan based on a region-oriented tradition so as to coordinate in managing the potential threats," the statement read.
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The UN is due to hold a meeting on the situation in Afghanistan on February 18 and 19 in the Qatari capital Doha.
A UN statement revealed that the meeting is aimed at discussing "how to approach increasing international engagement in a more coherent, coordinated and structured manner".
Muttaqi called on participants of the Kabul meeting to present the "ground realities" at that conference.
(With inputs from agencies)