Afghanistan\u2019s foreign minister again rejects UN call for the appointment of a special envoy for the country
\nKabul
\nAfghanistan\u2019s foreign minister on Monday called for \u201cconstructive engagement\u201d with the international community, but rejected the need for the appointment of a United Nations special envoy to his country.
\nAmir Khan Muttaqi was addressing a conference in Kabul that brought together special envoys and representatives from 11 countries, including China, Russia, Iran, Pakistan and India.
\nHe called for \u201cdeveloping regional cooperation for a constructive engagement… to tackle existing and potential threats in the region\u201d.
\nThe Taliban\u2019s government in Kabul has not been officially recognised by any other government since it took power in 2021, imposing a strict interpretation of Islam that has restricted women from almost all aspects of public life.
\n\u201cThe Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan respects others\u2019 interests, choices, government structures, and development models, and in return, expects others to respect Afghanistan\u2019s interests,\u201d Muttaqi told reporters.
\nAfghanistan\u2019s economy has struggled through decades of war, a crisis deepened by international sanctions on the banking system and foreign assets after the Taliban government came to power.
\nIn December, the UN Security Council passed a resolution calling for the appointment of a special envoy for Afghanistan, a post that Kabul rejected as \u201cunnecessary\u201d.
\nOn Monday, Muttaqi repeated that rejection, saying Afghanistan \u201cdoes not need another UN special representative\u201d.
\nThe UN is due to hold a meeting on the situation in Afghanistan on February 18 and 19 in the Qatari capital Doha.
\nThe aim of the meeting will be \u201cto discuss how to approach increasing international engagement in a more coherent, coordinated and structured manner\u201d, according to a UN statement.
\nMuttaqi called on participants of the Kabul meeting to present the \u201cground realities\u201d at that conference.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Afghanistan\u2019s foreign minister again rejects UN call for the appointment of a special envoy for the country Kabul Afghanistan\u2019s foreign minister on Monday called for \u201cconstructive engagement\u201d with the international community, but rejected the need for the appointment of a United Nations special envoy to his country. Amir Khan Muttaqi was addressing a conference in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":384258,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-384231","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n