UN-hosted meeting on Afghanistan set to begin

ATLANTA (Pajhwok):  Special envoys to Afghanistan are scheduled to launch talks in two-day UN-convened meeting in the Qatari capital on Sunday.

UN secretary-general’s spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York the UN secretary-general António Guterres has reached Doha to begin the talks.

The two-day meeting would discuss increasing engagement with Afghanistan and a more coordinated response to the Central Asian nation, Antonio Guterres’ spokesman told reporters on Thursday.

He said: “There will be a meeting between the envoys and civil society groups, which will, of course, include Afghan women.  It is very important that the voices of Afghan women be heard in these discussions.”

On Saturday, the Minister of Foreign Affairs said it had reiterated its conditions to the UN.

In a statement, the MoFA said: ““IEA believed that the meeting of Special Envoys for Afghanistan being convened by UN Secretary-General António Guterres in the capital of Qatar, Doha, was a good opportunity to hold frank and productive dialogue on issues of disagreement.”

“If the Islamic Emirate is to participate as the sole official representative of Afghanistan and if there exists an opportunity to hold frank talks between the Afghan delegation and the UN about all issues on a very senior level, then participation would be beneficial,” a ministry statement said.

“It should be noted that if the UN takes stock of current realities, rebuffs influence and pressure by a few parties, and takes into consideration the fact that unlike the previous twenty-year regime, this government of Afghanistan cannot be coerced by anyone, then there exists possibility of achieving progress in talks with the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,” the statement said.

According to reports, special envoys of US Thomas West, Rina Amiri and Russian representative Zamir Kabulov would attend the two-day conference in Doha.

Special representatives of 18 countries, including China, Iran, India, Japan, Tajikistan, France, Germany and the EU, are also scheduled to attend the conference.

The two-day meeting is a follow-up to talks held in Doha in May 2023, to which no Afghans were invited. But this time, both Afghan civil society members and the IEA authorities have been invited to Sunday’s conference.

kk/sa