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March 29, 2024
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EditorialPushing Taliban to ‘do more’

Pushing Taliban to ‘do more’

With almost three months to being back in power, the Taliban is still struggling to get the recognition it needs from the international community to curtail the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. And what comes as a blow to the Taliban regime, China, Russia and Pakistan – the Troika – have too made it clear that its international recognition is unlikely in the near future. During its ninth meeting of the Troika Plus that included delegates from the US, interim Foreign Minister of Afghanistan Amir Khan Muttaqi was told that the Taliban regime needs to ‘do more’ before it could gain global legitimacy. This was the first meeting of the delegates of the four countries with FM Muttaqi since the Taliban takeover.

In a joint statement, the Troika Plus has stated unequivocally that they will remain engaged with the Taliban government and provide humanitarian and economic assistance but the Kabul administration needed to take the required steps to gain formal recognition. These include, but are not limited to, universally accepted principles of international law and fundamental human rights, provision of girls’ education and formation of an inclusive government.

The statement of the Troika Plus comes just days after the World Bank refused to resume direct aid to the war-torn country, citing challenges in the payment system and “given what the government is doing in Afghanistan”. At a time, when the UN warned that over half of Afghanistan’s population will face a food emergency. In fact, in a report released by the WHO, ‘around 3.2 million Afghan children are likely to suffer from acute malnutrition by the end of this year, with one million of them at risk of dying’. These are harrowing figures. Add to this, reports of desperate Afghan people selling their daughters in need for money. The situation in the war-ravaged country is more gruesome than anyone can imagine. As if that was not enough, the functioning of terrorist outfits, such as, the ISIS-K in the country has added to the worries of the people. Just on Friday, a bomb blast in the Nangarhar province had claimed three lives with at least 15 wounded.

It is now time for the Taliban regime to step up its efforts and come true on their words for the welfare of Afghanistan’s people. While the US needs to unfreeze Afghanistan’s assets to avert the crisis, the onus of taking care of the country lies on the Taliban.

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