Afghanistan says ready to ‘engage, cooperate’ with regional countries

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) – Afghanistan’s interim Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi on Monday said his country stands ready to “engage and cooperate” with the regional countries by working together based on “mutual interest and mutual respect.”

Addressing the inaugural meeting of the regional contact group on Afghanistan in Kabul, he said that the meeting is aimed at establishing a region-centric narrative in order to develop regional cooperation for a “positive and constructive engagement between Afghanistan and regional countries,” Muttaqi told the meeting.

The summit is being attended by representatives from China, Russia, Pakistan and Iran.

“We believe that Afghanistan and the region’s economic progress and development share a consistent relation. This economic dependency requires further enhancement of joint work in the region,” Muttaqi was quoted as saying by Afghanistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Hafiz Zia Ahmad in a series of posts on X.

“Afghanistan as a country that has experienced insecurity and instability for nearly half a century, in no circumstances wants for any other country in the region to experience insecurity & instability. Regional security remains of grave importance for the IEA (Islamic Emirates of Afghanistan),” Muttaqi added.

During the Taliban government, he further said: “It has certainly been proven that a regional perspective revolving around economic connectivity with the region at its center constitutes one of the fundamental pillars of the Islamic Emirate’s foreign policy.”

Pointing out that Afghanistan was suffering from "problems like any other country," Muttaqi said: "A country that has been the target of foreign invasions and interventions and internal wars for nearly half a century, it is not possible to resolve all the problems in a short period of time. Nevertheless, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is resolved to find solutions."