A number of Taliban officials, including Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban’s deputy chief minister for economic affairs, on Wednesday traveled to Russia to attend the 16th Kazan Forum, a major economic summit bringing together Russian officials and representatives from Islamic countries.
Baradar is accompanied by Taliban commerce minister Nooruddin Azizi and other Taliban members, according to a statement. The delegation plans to hold bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the forum with representatives from participating nations.
The United Nations Security Council granted an eight-day travel exemption (from May 12 to 19) for five senior Taliban figures, including Baradar, allowing them to attend the event despite their inclusion on the UN sanctions list. Others cleared for travel include Hedayatullah Badri, the Taliban’s minister of mines; Abdul Latif Mansoor, minister of energy and water; Hamidullah Akhund, and Khairullah Khairkhwa.
The Kazan Forum, hosted in the Russian republic of Tatarstan, is designed to promote economic cooperation between Russia and the Muslim world. Taliban officials say their participation reflects Afghanistan’s interest in expanding trade and economic partnerships across the region.
The trip comes amid a flurry of diplomatic activity by Taliban leaders. Mansoor is currently in Uzbekistan for high-level meetings, including participation in Uzbekistan’s International Energy Week and the delivery of a gift of Afghanistan’s marble for a religious shrine.
The increasing frequency of Taliban foreign visits—despite many of them being under international sanctions—has raised questions among rights groups and analysts over the implications for diplomatic normalization of the Taliban government, which remains unrecognized by any nation nearly four years after returning to power.
