Taliban Deputy PM Urges Countries to Reopen Kabul Embassies

 

The Taliban wants diplomatic relations with the US

by Dave DeCamp 

Posted onOctober 1, 2021CategoriesNewsTagsAfghanistan

The Taliban wants countries that shuttered their embassies in Kabul to reopen them and engage in dialogue new Afghan government, the Taliban’s acting Deputy Prime Minister Abdul Ghani Baradar said on Thursday.

According to Afghanistan’s TOLO News, Baradar made the comments at a meeting in Kabul with ambassadors of China, Russia, and Pakistan. The three countries have kept their embassies open since the Taliban took over the country.

On Twitter, Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen quoted Baradar. “The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan wants good relations with countries of the world. If anyone has an issue with us, we are ready to resolve it through talks and understanding. We are neither intending nor have policy of harming others, the future Afghanistan will be a home of peace,” he wrote.

Since the US completed its withdrawal, the Taliban has been calling for diplomatic and trade relations with Washington and other Western countries that participated in the war. But the US appears to be in no hurry to recognize the new government.

The US has frozen billions in Afghan government reserves and is using its power over the global financial system as leverage over the Taliban. Even though the US and the Taliban cooperated on the evacuation and have been engaged in talks since at least 2018, many in Washington are opposed to opening up relations with the group.

This week, 22 Republican Senators introduced a bill that would sanction the Taliban, and any governments the US assesses are supporting them. Reacting to the legislation, the Taliban said more sanctions from the US would be another example of Washington trying to change Afghanistan by force.

https://news.antiwar.com/2021/10/01/taliban-deputy-pm-urges-countries-to-reopen-kabul-embassies/