Pakistan to host crucial trilateral meeting

ISLAMABAD: Foreign ministers from China and Afghanistan are scheduled to visit Islamabad later this week to discuss the current situation in the neighbouring country, as well as how to deal with terrorist safe havens.

Amir Khan Muttaqi’s visit to Pakistan is only his second since the Taliban retook power in August 2021. It will also be the first visit by China’s new foreign minister.

Aside from the trilateral meeting, the Chinese and Afghan interim foreign ministers will meet with Pakistani officials on a bilateral basis. After attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting in Goa with Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, China’s foreign minister is expected to arrive in Islamabad on May 5. They will be joined by the Afghan foreign minister on May 6.

Pakistan is dissatisfied with the Afghan Taliban because the interim government has so far failed to honour its commitment to combat terrorist hideouts of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP). According to local officials, this could nudge the Afghan Taliban to address Pakistani concerns.

Terrorist attacks in Pakistan have increased since the Taliban’s takeover. This ran counter to Pakistan’s expectations that the Taliban regaining power would address the country’s concerns. Instead, the Afghan Taliban’s takeover of Kabul has emboldened the TTP and its affiliates.

The Afghan Taliban, who previously attempted to mediate a peace between Pakistan and the TTP, are under renewed pressure from Islamabad, which no longer seeks peace talks with the terrorist group. Pakistan is hoping Muttaqi will present a concrete plan to eliminate the terrorist threat.

Meanwhile, according to Reuters, a UN Security Council committee agreed on Monday to allow the Taliban administration’s foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, to travel to Pakistan from Afghanistan next week to meet with the foreign ministers of Pakistan and China.

Muttaqi has long been subject to Security Council sanctions, including a travel ban, asset freeze, and arms embargo. According to a letter sent to the Security Council’s 15-member Taliban sanctions committee, Pakistan’s UN mission requested an exemption for Muttaqi, who was scheduled to travel between May 6 and 9 “for a meeting with the foreign ministers of Pakistan and China.”

It did not specify what the ministers would talk about.

It stated that Pakistan would cover all expenses related to Muttaqi’s trip. Both Chinese and Pakistani officials have previously stated that Taliban-led Afghanistan would be welcomed into the multibillion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) infrastructure project, which is part of the Belt and Road Initiative.

Afghanistan is a key geographical trade and transit route between South and Central Asia, with untapped mineral resources worth billions of dollars. The Taliban seized power in August 2021, following the withdrawal of US-led forces after 20 years of conflict.

Muttaqi was granted permission by the Security Council committee to travel to Uzbekistan last month for a meeting of Afghanistan’s neighbouring countries’ foreign ministers to discuss urgent peace, security, and stability issues.

On Monday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres began a two-day meeting in Doha with special envoys on Afghanistan from various countries in order “to achieve a common understanding within the international community on how to engage with the Taliban,” according to UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

Dujarric stated that the closed-door meeting would focus on key issues such as human rights, particularly the rights of women and girls, inclusive governance, counter-terrorism, and drug trafficking.

China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Norway, Pakistan, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States, Uzbekistan, the European Union, and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation are among those taking part.

The Taliban government was not invited to the Doha meeting.

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