Afghan, US delegations discuss economic sanctions, human rights in Doha
\n ANKARA
\nThe United States and Afghan delegations met in the Qatari capital Doha to discuss a slew of thorny issues between the two former warring sides, including economic sanctions, human rights, and the blacklisting of several Taliban leaders.
\nThe two-day delegation-level talks ended on Monday, said a statement from Afghanistan\u2019s interim Foreign Ministry.
\nThe Afghan delegation, led by interim Foreign Minister Maulvi Amir Khan Muttaqi, included the representatives of the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Afghanistan, and officials of the Afghan Embassy.
\nOn the other hand, the 15-member US delegation was headed by Washington\u2019s special representative for Afghanistan, Thomas West.
\n\u201cBuilding trust between the two sides, taking practical steps in this direction, removing the blacklist and sanctions, freeing Afghanistan\u2019s bank deposits, maintaining Afghanistan\u2019s economic stability, fighting against drugs and human rights were discussed,\u201d the statement said.
\nThe Afghan side reiterated that it is important to build trust to remove the \u201cblack and white list\u201d and open bank reserves so that Afghans can build their own economy without foreign aid.
\nHumanitarian aid, free travel to Afghanistan, and consular services reaching Afghans anywhere in the world were also discussed, the statement added.
\nThe Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan on August 15, 2021, as officials of the US-backed Kabul administration fled the country and foreign forces withdrew.
\nSince then, the US imposed sanctions on the interim Afghan government.
\nThe meeting \u201cdoes not indicate any change in the policy of the United States,\u201d State Department\u2019s deputy spokesman Vedant Patel responded in a news conference when asked by Anadolu about the meeting.
\n\u201cWe have been very clear that we will engage with the Taliban appropriately when it is in our interest to do so. This is not intended to mean any kind of indication of recognition or any kind of indication of normalisation or legitimacy of the Taliban,\u201d said Patel.
\nNoting his previous comments on the American \u201ccontinued concerns about backsliding in Afghanistan,\u201d including human rights abuses against women and girls, Patel said: \u201cAll of those things and many others continue to be of immense concern to the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Afghan, US delegations discuss economic sanctions, human rights in Doha ANKARA The United States and Afghan delegations met in the Qatari capital Doha to discuss a slew of thorny issues between the two former warring sides, including economic sanctions, human rights, and the blacklisting of several Taliban leaders. The two-day delegation-level talks ended on Monday, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":346604,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-346587","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n