Moscow to back Afghanistan’s SCO membership, says Kabulov

KABUL (Pajhwok): Moscow will support Afghanistan’s membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) if the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) is recognised, says a top Russian diplomat.

TASS quoted Russia’s Special Representative for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov as saying: “I think we will," he said in response to a question. "However, it’s not only about recognition.”

“Moscow will support Afghanistan’s accession to the SCO if the Taliban movement, currently outlawed in Russia, is recognized,” he added.

"Afghanistan should also put its economy in some kind of order for other SCO members to view its accession as reasonable."

The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) officials called such statements a positive step and said the expansion of economic and diplomatic ties could be the only way to solve the issues between Afghanistan and regional countries.

Currently, eight countries enjoy the status of SCO full members: India, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan and four countries like Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia, have an observer status with the SCO.

Earlier, Kabulov told TASS that Russia’s foreign and justice ministries had reported to President Vladimir Putin that the “Taliban movement” could be removed from the list of banned organizations.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov later said that this initiative reflected objective reality.

kk/sa