Afghanistan Looks to Iran, India, Central Asia Amid Trade War With Pakistan

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Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai

Michael Hughes: Afghanistan’s trade with Pakistan has plummeted since the rise of the Taliban 2.0 regime, driven by political rows and security issues, and to compensate Kabul is hoping to enhance commerce with Iran, India, and neighbors across Central Asia.

Tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan have resulted in closure of trade routes and stiff tariffs along with bans on hundreds of items. Pakistan trade is down 60 percent overall and transit trade is off by 80%. Annual trade with Pakistan has fallen from $2 billion to about $500 million, according to Afghan commerce authorities.

“We tried a lot to convince the government of Pakistan but border closure and transit challenges such as high taxes led to a significant decline in trade with Pakistan,” Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Investment Deputy Head Khan Jan Alokozai said as quoted by Arab News on October 3.

Taliban have been reluctant to go nuclear in the trade war although they continue warning Islamabad of dire consequences. Taliban’s Political Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, expressed this hesitance combined with a veiled threat.

Click here to read more.

Moscow Pushes For Lifting Sanctions On Taliban-Led Afghanistan, U.S. Remains Cautious

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Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
October 4, 2024

Russia has urged the West to lift sanctions on Taliban-led Afghanistan and called for the inclusion of its government in discussions about the country’s future in direct opposition to the U.S. position of keeping sanctions against the regime in place. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said during a session of the “Moscow Format” consultations on October 4 that it’s necessary to engage with the Taliban administration despite its lack of formal recognition by Moscow. Despite the Taliban being unrecognized internationally, the Taliban administration’s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi participated in the forum, highlighting Russia’s ongoing engagement with the Taliban. The U.S. envoy to Afghanistan, Karen Decker, said a day earlier that Washington remained opposed to easing sanctions or recognizing the Taliban, stressing that progress on human rights, particularly women’s rights, was necessary before any steps toward legitimacy or economic engagement could occur.

Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.

 

Afghanistan Star Rashid Khan Gets Married, Video Of Wedding Venue Goes Viral

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NDTV: One of the finest spinners in the game at present, Afghanistan star spinner Rashid Khan tied the nuptial knot as he got married on October 03. Rashid got married in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul, with the wedding celebration videos taking social media by storm. The Afghan star, who is widely touted as the No. T20I spinner in the world had his wedding according to Pashtun customs. While many cricketers from the Afghanistan national cricket team attended his wedding, the picture and videos from his wedding venue created immense social media buzz. Click here to read more (external link).

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Establishment Of ISIS Bases In Region Has Worried Taliban, Says Group’s FM

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Afghanistan International: Speaking at the Moscow Format Conference, Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Taliban’s foreign minister said that ISIS has been able to establish equipment and training centres outside Afghanistan’s borders, and this incident has caused concern for the Taliban. Muttaqi called on the countries of the region not to allow ISIS to recruit their nationals and send them to Afghanistan and other countries for destructive purposes. Click here to read more (external link).

Top EU court rules gender, nationality enough for Afghan women to be granted asylum

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Reuters: The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled on Friday that gender and nationality alone were sufficient for a country to grant asylum to women from Afghanistan, where the ruling Taliban have sharply curtailed women’s rights. Authorities in Austria refused refugee status to two Afghan women after they applied for asylum in 2015 and 2020. They challenged the refusal before the Austrian Supreme Administrative Court, which in turn requested a ruling from the ECJ, the top European Union court. Click here to read more (external link).

Seizure of Public and Private Lands: Taliban Divide the Ishkashim District Market Among Themselves

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8am: Over the past three years, Afghan citizens have lodged numerous complaints about land seizures, bullying, and the distribution of public properties by the Taliban. Recently, sources shared images and videos of the Ishkashim district market in Badakhshan with the Hasht-e Subh Daily, alleging that Taliban members have seized both government and private properties. According to these claims, individuals connected to the Taliban Chief of Army Staff [Fasihuddin Fitrat] have constructed shops on public and private lands in their names. The sources report that over 14 Taliban officials have built dozens of shops on state and private land under their own names, as well as those of their children, brothers, and relatives, depriving residents and shopkeepers of their rightful ownership. Click here to read more (external link).

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Taliban FM to be ‘chief guest’ in Russia-hosted Afghanistan talks

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Muttaqi

By Ayaz Gul
VOA News
October 3, 2024

Islamabad, Pakistan — Russia is set to convene a meeting of regional countries on Friday to discuss, among other issues, the expansion of “practical interaction” with Taliban-governed Afghanistan in political, economic, counterterrorism and counternarcotics areas.

Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi will participate as the “chief guest” in what will be the sixth round of the “Moscow Format” of consultations on Afghanistan, reported Maria Zakharova, the Russian foreign ministry spokesperson, on the eve of the gathering.

Russia launched the Moscow Format in 2017, and it has since become a regular platform for discussion of challenges facing impoverished, war-torn Afghanistan.

Zakharova told reporters in the Russian capital on Wednesday that special representatives and senior officials from China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan will attend the gathering.

She said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will preside over the closed-door meeting, and that “the main focus of the discussions” would be advancing the Afghan national reconciliation process.

Zakharova also said, without elaborating, that Lavrov plans to hold bilateral talks separately with Muttaqi and his team on key areas of collaboration between Moscow and Kabul.

Muttaqi’s office in Kabul reported separately that he is scheduled to meet Lavrov on the sidelines of the Moscow Format gathering.

Moscow has established close informal ties with the Taliban since the former insurgents regained control of Afghanistan three years ago, following the withdrawal of U.S.-led coalition troops after almost two decades of war.

Russia, however, has not recognized the Taliban as a legitimate government, in line with international consensus on the issue.

But the Russian foreign and justice ministries submitted a proposal to President Vladimir Putin in June to remove the Taliban from Russia’s list of designated terrorist organizations.

Taliban officials confirmed last week that they had formally sought to join the coming Russia-led summit of the BRICS intergovernmental group of major emerging economies. There has been no public response from Moscow.

The Taliban said that Afghanistan is a developing country and needs to attend forums like BRICS to help improve the national economy.

The leaders of the 10-nation BRICS, whose original members were Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, are set to convene October 22-24 in the southwestern Russian city of Kazan.

The U.S. remains opposed to any step toward easing sanctions or moving toward recognition of the Taliban as Afghanistan’s rightful government.

“We have been very clear that we judge the Taliban by what they do, not by what they say,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said last week while responding to the de facto Afghan government’s bid to attend BRICS.

She reiterated that the Taliban would need to improve its human rights record to win international legitimacy and be removed from sanctions lists so they can rejuvenate the Afghan economy.

“Afghanistan cannot strengthen its economy unless women are able to participate in all aspects of society without limitations,” stated Jean-Pierre. “So, we will continue to engage with the Taliban on matters of our interest — for example, on respect for the rights of women and girls and the return of wrongfully detained U.S. citizens — and that’s how we’re going to move forward with them.”

Stanikzai Threatens Islamabad To Close Central Asia Route For Pakistani Goods

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Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai

Afghanistan International: Abbas Stanikzai, the Taliban’s deputy foreign minister, expressed concern regarding the problems in exporting Afghan traders’ products and threatened Pakistan that it will close the Central Asian route for Pakistani goods. Stanikzai said at a meeting in Logar province on Wednesday that they face problems at the borders when Afghanistan’s crops come to fruition. Click here to read more (external link).