ISLAMABAD: Representatives of the Taliban government will be invited to the next "troika plus" meeting on Afghanistan, the Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Thursday as US, Chinese and Russian envoys participated in the group's meeting in Islamabad.
The troika grouping of countries consists of the US, China, and Russia. Pakistan is a part of its extended platform, the "troika plus."
The meeting in Islamabad was their first since the Taliban took over Afghanistan on Aug. 15. It was also the latest in a series of diplomatic meetings on Afghanistan, after neighboring India held a conference for regional countries on Wednesday, which Pakistan and China did not attend.
Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi is also currently in Islamabad on his first Pakistan visit. While he did not take part in Thursday's meeting, he is expected to meet the participating foreign diplomats on its sidelines.
"It is decided that in next session of troika plus in Beijing, Taliban will be officially invited so that they should involve directly in this process,” Qureshi said during a press conference.
"By their physical presence in troika plus they can share their concerns directly to international community."
He warned that Afghanistan is on the brink of economic collapse and the international community must urgently resume funding, provide humanitarian assistance, and enable Kabul to access its assets frozen in foreign banks.
"Enabling Afghanistan to access its frozen funds will dovetail into our efforts to regenerate economic activities and move the Afghan economy towards stability and sustainability," Qureshi said. "Today, Afghanistan stands at the brink of an economic collapse."
He said Pakistan was already taking steps such as the reopening of its borders for Afghan trade and providing aid to its neighbor, but it was "a collective and shared responsibility of all countries," as instability could lead to another conflict in the war-battered country.
"Nobody wishes to see a relapse into civil war, no one wants an economic collapse that will spur instability," Qureshi said. "Everyone wants terrorist elements operating inside Afghanistan to be tackled effectively, and we all want to prevent a new refugee crisis."
Pakistani experts see the extended troika meeting taking place in Islamabad as a significant development, showing Pakistan's engagement in the Afghanistan situation.
"It also showed the importance Pakistan attached to find solution to Afghanistan situation," Pakistan’s former foreign secretary, Tehmina Janjua, told Arab News. "The presence of Taliban in Islamabad at the same time has also made it more relevant."
Afghan affairs expert Muhammad Ayaz Wazir said the troika plus forum is an established and influential platform and that during his Islamabad visit the Afghan foreign minister will be able to meet its members and discuss with them the possibility of recognizing Afghanistan's new government.
“Along with discussing ways to help Afghanistan to avoid humanitarian crisis they will also discuss possibilities of recognizing Taliban government," Wazir said.
International relations expert Prof. Zafar Jaspal said the significance of troika's meeting in Islamabad has multiplied after Pakistan and China's absence from Wednesday’s summit on Afghanistan in New Delhi.
"Indian invitation has neither attracted Pakistan nor China, so after that the significance of troika meeting in Islamabad multiplied, and now it is going to establish that the major stakeholders of in Afghanistan are Pakistan, China, United States, Russia, and Afghans themselves,” he told Arab News.
