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Afghan Taliban to attend third round of UN talks in Doha today


An Afghan Taliban delegation on Sunday will participate in the third round of the United Nations-hosted meeting of Special Envoys and Special Representatives on Afghanistan in Doha, Qatar.

This will mark the first time the de facto Afghan rulers will attend a gathering of international envoys on Afghanistan since UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres started the process in May 2023, aimed at developing a coherent and unified world approach to engagement with the Taliban.

The Taliban government has not been officially recognised by any state and the international community has wrestled with its approach to Afghanistan’s new rulers, with women’s rights issues a sticking point for many countries.

Taliban authorities were not invited to the first talks in Doha last year and refused to attend the second conference, demanding that they be the sole Afghan representatives to the exclusion of invited civil society groups. That condition has been met for the third round.

The meeting will begin at 8:45pm with opening remarks by UN Undersecretary General Rosemary DiCarlo, followed by welcoming remarks from Qatari officials. The talks will conclude on July 1.

Afghan government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, who is the head of the five-member Taliban delegation, told reporters in Kabul on Saturday that he would “seek understanding and resolve issues,” according to state news agency Bakhtar.

Pakistan will also be attending the talks, with the delegation being led by Asif Khan Durrani, the country’s special representative on Afghanistan. Ubaidur Reman Nizamani, Islamabad’s envoy in Kabul, is also part of the delegation.

There are two items on the official agenda, which has been seen by Dawn.com: enabling the private sector and counter narcotics and sustaining progress.

Although the official agenda consists of only two points, participants from nearly 30 countries and international bodies will be free to raise any issue.

It should be mentioned that the UN has been under fire for the exclusion of civil society groups, including women’s rights activists, from the talks.

However, civil society representatives, including from women’s rights groups, will attend meetings with the international envoys and UN officials on Tuesday (July 2), after the official talks.

On Sunday, an Afghan foreign ministry official said that the July 2 meeting was not part of the Doha format.

“If several special envoys meet with someone after the meeting of the participants, it has nothing to do with the Doha-III [meeting],” Zakir Jalali wrote on social media X, in an apparent reference to Tuesday’s gathering.

“The Doha meeting officially concludes on the second day and the UN spokesperson has also said the event is two days. Most of the participants will leave Doha after the formal conclusion of the meeting,” he added.

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