A United Nations Security Council committee has agreed to allow the Taliban’s interim foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, to travel to Pakistan and meet with Pakistani and Chinese counterparts, according to Reuters news agency.
Muttaqi who has long been subjected to a travel ban and is still on the UN blacklist, is expected to travel to Pakistan next week and meet with the foreign ministers of Pakistan and China.
Pakistan’s UN mission requested an exemption for Amir Khan Muttaqi to travel to Pakistan between May 6 and 9 for a meeting with the foreign minister of Pakistan and China, according to Reuters.
The government of Pakistan has not shared further details on the agenda of the meeting to be discussed between the foreign ministers of the Taliban, Pakistan and China.
The local Afghan news outlet, TOLOnews on Monday said Pakistani media reported the upcoming four-day visit of Muttaqi to Pakistan, and meet with Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari.
It is believed that among other issues, Minister Muttaqi will discuss the expansion of bilateral trade and transit facilities, as well as easing taxes on commercial goods between the two sides. Furthermore, the rising security threats posed by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) will also be part of the agenda.
This comes as representatives of nearly two dozen countries and international organizations met on Monday in Doha Qatar hosted by the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for talks on Afghanistan, focusing on the plight of the women and girls under the Taliban-run administration.
According to UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric, Taliban authorities were not invited to attend the closed-door two-day meeting in Doha, aimed at discussing the Afghan crisis and to achieve a common understanding within the international community on how to engage with the Taliban.
