The Taliban government of Afghanistan says that Kuwait has handed over the control of the Afghan Embassy located there to the Taliban government. With this, another representative office of the Taliban government has been added in the Gulf countries. The Taliban government has appointed Shafiq Khatib in-charge of the Afghan Embassy in Kuwait. Khatib has previously headed the Department of Consular Services and Border Affairs of the Foreign Ministry in Kabul.
This is being considered a sign of growing relations between Kuwait and the Taliban government. Similarly, in April, Taliban government representative Shoaib Shafiq had reached Iraq’s capital Baghdad. Although the Iraqi government has not officially handed over the Afghan embassy to the Taliban, but according to sources, Shoaib Shafiq has started working as the representative of the Taliban government in Baghdad.
Kuwait was in contact with Taliban for 6 months
According to the report, Kuwait was in constant contact with the Taliban government for the last 6 months. After this a decision was taken to hand over the control of the embassy. Apart from Kuwait, many countries like Russia, China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Uzbekistan, Oman, Qatar and Turkey have also handed over the operation of their Afghan embassies to the representatives of the Taliban government. Recently, Foreign Minister of Taliban government, Amir Khan Muttaki had said that Afghanistan’s embassies and consulates are active in almost all the countries of the Middle East. He called it a major diplomatic achievement of his government.
This matter has come to light at a time when there is tension between Iran, America and Israel. It is believed that the countries of the Middle East and Gulf region want to strengthen relations with their allies and friendly countries at this time. Iran had also praised the Taliban government’s stance during the recent conflict and said that it refused to bow to pressure.
Why emphasis on strengthening relations with Afghanistan?
According to experts, there have been relations between Afghanistan and Arab countries for a long time. In the last few years, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Qatar have laid emphasis on further strengthening these relations. A large number of Afghan citizens work in Gulf countries. Therefore, it is important for both sides to have embassies active for passport, visa and other consular services. Apart from this, Afghanistan holds an important strategic position between Central and South Asia, so the Gulf countries want to maintain their presence and influence there.
However, till now the Taliban government has not been officially recognized by any other country except Russia. America and many western countries have been criticizing Taliban on issues related to women’s education, employment and human rights. Despite this, growing relations with the Gulf countries are going to prove very important for the Taliban government.
Also read: Can US government take stake in AI companies? Trump gave hints
Leave a Reply