Troika Plus Calls Taliban to Form Inclusive Gov't With Representation of Women at All Levels

The Taliban took over Kabul on 15 August, and the Troika Plus, consisting of the US, China, Russia, and Pakistan, met for the first time on Thursday, in Islamabad. The meeting was held a day after national security chiefs of eight countries called for "unimpeded" aid to Afghanistan.

On Thursday, the Troika Plus, the grouping of the US, Russia, China, and Pakistan, agreed to continue practical engagement with the Taliban* to encourage the implementation of "moderate prudent policies," including access to education and representation for women and girls at all levels.

The Troika Plus meeting was attended by Pakistan's Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood, Pakistan's Special Representative to Afghanistan Mohammad Sadiq, US State Department's Special Representative for Afghanistan Thomas West, Russia's Special Envoy for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov, and China's Special Representative for Afghanistan, Yao Jing.

Issuing a joint statement after the meeting in Islamabad, the members called on the Taliban to work with fellow Afghans to "form an inclusive and representative government that respects the rights of all Afghans."

"Reaffirmed their [Troika Plus] expectation that the Taliban will fulfill their commitment to prevent use of Afghan territory by terrorists against its neighbors, other countries in the region, and the rest of the world," the joint statement read.

Represented in part by the world's top three global powers, the Troika Plus also called on the Taliban to take a friendly approach towards neighboring countries to uphold Afghanistan's international legal obligations.

Trioka Plus also met with the Afghan Acting Foreign Minister to discuss the conclusions of Trioka Plus meeting and hear perspective of the Afghan Interim Government. pic.twitter.com/vrb3DD3LFo

— Mohammad Sadiq (@AmbassadorSadiq) November 11, 2021

They also asked the Taliban to protect the safety and legitimate rights of foreign nationals and institutions in Afghanistan.

Member countries, represented by their special envoys, condemned the recent terrorist attacks in Afghanistan and called on the Taliban to quickly dismantle and eliminate all the terrorist groups operating inside Afghan territory.

'Avert Economic Collapse'

Islamabad has called for positive engagement with Kabul to prevent economic collapse or an all-out civil war in Afghanistan.

Addressing the meeting, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Pakistan's Foreign Minister, said that the landlocked country stood at the brink of economic collapse and urged the international community to "buttress the provision of humanitarian assistance on an urgent basis."

"Nobody wishes to see a relapse into civil war, no one wants an economic collapse that will spur instability; everyone wants terrorist elements operating inside Afghanistan to be tackled effectively and we all want to prevent a new refugee crisis," he said.

He has also called on governments, including the US, to unfreeze billions of dollars of assets belonging to Afghanistan's central bank that has been locked in the US to restart stalled economic activity.

Washington froze nearly $9 billion of assets belonging to Afghanistan after the Taliban took over Kabul in mid-August.

A UN report estimated that 22.8 million people, or more than half of the country's population, are expected to be in crisis or emergency levels of food insecurity between November 2021 and March 2022.

Earlier on Wednesday, national security heads of eight regional countries - India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan - met in New Delhi at the Delhi Regional Security Dialogue on Afghanistan.

They noted the need to provide humanitarian assistance and emphasized that the land and air routes should be made available and "no one should impede the process." They also stressed that no one should boycott the process due to bilateral agendas. Pakistan and China did not join the India-led initiative despite an invitation reported to have been sent to the two nations last month.

*An organisation under UN sanctions for terrorist activities.