By Elena Teslova
MOSCOW (AA) – Relations with Afghanistan should not be held hostage or obstructed by the issue of recognizing the Taliban government, according to Russia’s presidential envoy for Afghanistan.
Recognition is important for any country that wants to develop normal relations with other members of global society, and the very pulse of life will motivate the Taliban government to take the necessary steps in this direction, Zamir Kabulov, who also serves as director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Second Department of Asia, told Anadolu in an exclusive interview.
Kabulov said he expects that changes in Afghan political life, specifically the establishment of an inclusive government and the solution of human rights issues, will happen in less than a quarter of a century.
“It is unlikely that we are talking about a generation (for changes to happen) because one generation is 25 years. There will be nothing left of Afghanistan during this time if the situation remains as it is now,” he said.
“The political consciousness of the current Afghan authorities is evolving. Yes, it is happening more slowly than we, especially outside observers, would like, but progress will inevitably come because there is a logic of development of any state, including Afghanistan.”
Kabulov said Moscow has no complaints over the Taliban’s foreign policy. Moreover, the Taliban’s fight against a dangerous international terrorist organization such as Daesh/ISIS also finds approval in the Russian capital.
“On domestic policy, we still have differences, as the president and the foreign minister have repeatedly said. We are more concerned about political inclusivity, rather than ethnic inclusivity, which the Taliban insist on,” he said.
“This does not mean that Russia insists on including fugitive Afghan statesmen in the Afghan leadership. They have already made their choice. Let the Afghan people draw their own conclusions about them.”
Disparities persist concerning large non-Pashtun ethnic groups in Afghanistan – Tajiks, Hazaras, Uzbeks and Turkmens – who are called a “minority” but collectively make up more than half of the Afghan population and should have the right to vote and participate in the country’s governance, he said.
The diplomat stressed that Russia does not dictate to the Taliban who should be included in the government and when, but this principle of inclusivity is important for Afghanistan to become a “normal traditional state.”
- Taliban need recognition for ties, sanctions respite
Kabulov said recognition of the Taliban government would become a realistic possibility when they heed the international community’s call for an inclusive political structure.
Such a structure will contribute to solving other problems, including human rights issues, ensuring the rights of girls and women and ultimately paving the way for the process of the Taliban’s international recognition, he said.
Russia, along with several regional nations, refuses to make the development of relations with Afghanistan contingent upon the recognition of the Taliban government. Instead, they focus on advancing trade, economic and diplomatic ties with Afghanistan to support its people’s well-being, he said.
Kabulov also highlighted other potential benefits of recognition for the Taliban, such as the removal of top officials from the UN Security Council’s sanctions list.
These sanctions not only impede foreign travel but also create administrative burdens on host countries, as they must notify the Security Council sanctions committee about visits by individuals on the list, he said.
“Some of the persons that were put on this list have already died of natural causes or were killed. But nevertheless, many are alive and experiencing the effects of sanctions. The Taliban hope that recognition will lead to the lifting of sanctions and they will be able to build relations with other countries more freely in practical terms,” he said.
He noted that the Taliban’s acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi is among the sanctioned people, which limits Afghanistan’s already constrained ability to build and maintain international relationships.
- Diplomatic representation is not recognition
Kabulov said Russia’s decision to keep its ambassador in Afghanistan is “based on sanity” because that is important for various reasons, including the security interests of Russia and its allies in the region.
“Recently there was furor over the new Chinese ambassador presenting his credentials to the Taliban government. There’s nothing wrong with that. The former ambassador has served his term. A new one has come. This is called rotation. Since the diplomatic protocol involves the presentation of credentials, he did it,” said Kabulov.
Normally, credentials should be presented to the head of state, but there is none in Afghanistan, he added.
“There is Hibatullah (Akhundzada), who positions himself as a spiritual leader. The Taliban don’t have a president, they have a different political structure. And this should not be an obstacle,” he said.
The presence of the ambassadors is extremely important to have access to representatives of the Afghan leadership in order to bring their state’s point of view to them and learn first-hand the Taliban's position on various issues, he said.
“Presentation of credentials is not a recognition of the government. It is a tradition, a ceremony, marking that the ambassador has assumed his duties,” he said.
- ‘Afghanistan honors commercial contracts’
Regarding trade and economic ties with Afghanistan, Kabulov refuted the notion that such cooperation is akin to charity because of the country’s economic challenges.
“This is an exaggeration,” he said.
“The country lives and functions. Yes, Afghans are more modest in their demands for life in the material sense of the word, but it works. The Afghan authorities, for example, have concluded agreements with Russia on petroleum products, wheat. These are all commercial contracts, and they pay for all this,” he emphasized.
Kabulov pointed out that people in any country need food, electricity, and their homes to be heated in cold months.
“There is money. Yes, a relatively small amount of money, and it is not necessary to count on more, and (when we signed contacts) we did not do it for that (for the money),” he said.
He noted that despite the challenges, the country’s strategic location makes it a promising transit route for international business.
“The transit of trucks through the territory of Afghanistan continues. Not on a huge scale, but on a rather impressive scale,” he said.
“Transit is underway, and it brings certain benefits to Afghanistan itself and (to those who use it), as this is the shortest route connecting the northern part, everything that lies from Afghanistan to the north, with the south, the greater Asian subcontinent,” he said.
Kabulov highlighted that he has seen no information that transit cargo was attacked by criminal groups.
“This means that somehow the Taliban are able to, let’s say, regulate the issue,” he said.
- Palestine intervention ‘hype of individual Taliban’
In response to claims about the Taliban seeking passage to Palestine, Kabulov dismissed them as unsubstantiated and possibly exaggerated bravado from individual Taliban representatives.
“There is no need to take seriously the hype of individual representatives of the Taliban,” he said.
He doubted that calls to send Afghan troops reflect the point of view of the current authorities, who sympathize with the Palestinians but try to behave like responsible statesmen.
“The appearance of the Taliban in Palestine would only complicate things. And in my opinion, the Taliban have a lot to do in their homeland,” he said.