KABUL, Afghanistan — As the Doha meeting approaches, special envoys from various countries, especially regional officials, have been actively engaging in discussions on Afghanistan. The Doha meeting of special envoys on Afghanistan is scheduled for next month.
In a recent development, Chinese special envoy for Afghanistan, Yue Xiaoyong, hosted Uzbekistan’s special envoy, Ismatullah Irgashev, in Beijing on Wednesday. The two envoys agreed to work closely for Afghanistan’s peace and reconstruction.
Analysts believe that building a regional consensus and consolidating views on the situation in Afghanistan is significantly important ahead of the Doha meeting. Mohammad Hashem Danesh, a political affairs expert, stated that officials from various countries are aiming to support their own interests at the Doha meeting.
“All the travels that countries undertake to various places are aimed at bolstering their supporters at the meeting. The point is that everyone wants to find allies to defend their policies at the Doha meeting,” Danesh said.
On the eve of the third Doha meeting hosted by the UN, Russia’s special envoy for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, and J.P. Singh, Joint Secretary in India’s Ministry of External Affairs, held consultations on Afghanistan in New Delhi on Wednesday, focusing on the situation of the Afghan people, according to Indian media reports.
Kabulov stated that Russia’s relations with the Taliban are improving, but there are political limitations. “I don’t mean that the Taliban are our number one friends, but it is obvious that they are not our enemies either. We maintain our relations with the Taliban through our embassy in Kabul,” he said.
Kabulov told TASS news agency that the Taliban in Afghanistan are no longer considered an enemy by his country and that the Taliban have expressed trust in Moscow. “The Taliban openly say that they trust Russia as the former Soviet Union’s successor,” he said.
Meanwhile, women and girls in Afghanistan hope the Doha meeting will address human rights issues, including female access to work and education. “Unlike the previous two meetings held in Doha, which did not bring any changes to the situation of women and the economic situation, we hope that this meeting will have an impact on the economic situation of Afghanistan and the situation of women,” said Mobina, a resident of Badghis.
The third round of meetings of the United Nations and special envoys from various countries on Afghanistan is scheduled for the end of next month. The appointment of a UN special envoy is expected to be one of the key topics at the meeting, a post that the Taliban has been opposing.
