A team of the Afghan Taliban, led by Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesperson for the Afghan interim government, met with Pakistani diplomats on the fringes of the Doha III meeting. This was a new diplomatic effort following Islamabad’s announcement of an operation against terrorists operating in Afghanistan.
Once close and friendly neighbors, Pakistan and Afghanistan have recently experienced tension as a result of frequent cross-border attacks, mostly carried out by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a banned organization that, according to Pakistani security officials, operates out of Afghan territory.
Representatives from the Afghan interim administration are now in Doha for meetings aimed at “discussing increasing engagement with Afghanistan and a more coordinated response to the country, including economic issues and counter-narcotics efforts”.
They had appointments with over 20 envoys, including the US special representative and UN authorities.Reuters reports that the international community struggled with how to deal with the new government in Kabul.
Senior diplomats, including Pakistan’s Special Representative on Afghanistan Asif Durrani and the nation’s Deputy Head of Mission in Kabul Ubaid Ur Rehman Nizamani, attended a dinner that Pakistani Ambassador to Qatar Muhammad Aejaz hosted for the Afghan Taliban delegation during their visit.
As the Taliban delegates were being welcomed and hosted, Durrani shared pictures from the event on X, the former Twitter platform, where they talked about the “Doha-III conference, bilateral and regional issues” thus far.
