The Taliban Foreign Minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, met with ambassadors and special representatives from several countries based in Qatar and urged them to reopen their embassies in Kabul.
Hafiz Zia Ahmad, the deputy spokesperson of the Taliban Foreign Ministry, stated on Wednesday that the meeting was attended by ambassadors of the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and South Korea.
According to him, during the meeting, they discussed economic growth, security, and the fight against drugs.
Hafiz Zia Ahmad added that Muttaqi and his delegation answered the ambassadors’ questions and concerns in detail adding that their center of representation should be in Afghanistan rather than carrying out their mission from other countries.
Following the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, many countries closed their embassies in Kabul or moved their diplomatic missions outside Afghanistan, primarily to neighboring countries and Qatar.
Muttaqi’s meeting with the ambassadors comes after he met with US special envoys for Afghanistan in Doha on August 30 and 31. The US Department of State said that the two sides discussed “critical interests” and “confidence building in the support of the Afghan people.”
However, the spokesman of the Taliban Foreign Ministry, Abdul Qahar Balkhi, stated that the group’s delegation discussed “taking practical steps” on issues such as “removing blacklists and lifting sanctions, unfreezing DAB reserves, ensuring economic stability, and countering narcotics in Afghanistan.”
