The visit of the Taliban delegation to the Afghanistan Consulate General in Khorog, the capital of the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO), indicates that it has some degree of blessing from the Tajik authorities, which have been outspoken in their demand that the unrecognized Afghan government boost inclusiveness since it took over after the withdrawal of U.S.-led international troops in August 2021.
A Tajik political expert, who wanted to remain unnamed, told Asia-Plus that the visit of the Taliban delegation to Khorog indicates that the government of Tajikistan is establishing a low-key relationship with the Taliban-run Afghanistan in order to protect the national interests.
“Given the difficult situation in the world, direct clash of interests of world powers in the territory of the post=Soviet space (Ukraine), explicit and implicit ties of major players in global and regional politics with the Taliban, it becomes more and more difficult for Tajikistan to promote an uncompromising policy towards the current authorities of Afghanistan,” the expert said.
“Therefore, in order to avoid possible dangers and threats to the country from Afghanistan, the establishment of low-key relationship with the Taliban seems not impossible,” the expert said, noting that the purpose of such a step can only be protection of the national interests, “above all the security of our country”.
“In other words, the circumstances are such that Tajikistan has no other choice but to establish the low-key relationship with the Taliban. In words America and Europe criticize the Taliban, but actually him, but actually for more than a year and a half, they have been providing this group with about $40 million in transfers every week. Without this help, the Taliban’s survival would have been impossible,” the expert noted.
That is, according to him, a simple logic shows that many countries support the Taliban to stay in power.
“China, Russia, Iran, Turkiye, Saudi Arabia, India and other active players in the regional arena don't have much trouble with the Taliban. Four Central Asia’s nations also have ties with the Taliban and their embassies in Kabul are open. Only Tajikistan remained the only country in the world that strictly avoided any official and political contacts with the Taliban,” said the expert. “However, it is not easy to pursue such a policy alone in difficult and confusing world conditions, and Tajikistan’s limited internal capabilities also do not allow this.”
“It is known that more than 20 terrorist groups are operating in Afghanistan, including Jamaat Ansarullah, also known as the Tajik Taliban, which poses a serious threat to our country. Besides, hundreds of suicide bombers are waiting for instructions to commit terrorist attacks in neighboring countries,” the expert added.
According to him, from this point of view, the establishment of relationship with Taliban can greatly reduce security threats. “That is, this move is a necessity that will be hard to ignore. Of course, that close and trusting relationships will the national forces of Afghanistan, including the National resistance Front of Afghanistan, will be preserved,” the expert concluded.
Meanwhile, the Afghan Embassy in Dushanbe, which is still run by the anti-Taliban opposition, says there no changes in the work of the Afghan Consulate in Khorog.
The head of the opposition-run embassy in Dushanbe, Zahir Aghbar, wrote on his Facebook page that the Afghan Embassy in Dushanbe continues its political activities as usual and “Afghanistan is the homeland of people's desire for justice and freedom.”
“No official changes have occurred in the Consualte general in Khorog. The position of the host country in relation to the Taliban is also clear,” Mr. Zahir Aghbar stressed.
The Afghan Embassy in Dushanbe has to date refused to acknowledge the Taliban government and has instead pledged allegiance to the former Afghan First Vice President Amrullah Saleh.
Meanwhile, Eurasianet says the Afghan Consulate in Khorog has passed under the control of the Taliban regime.
A representative of the Afghan Embassy in Dushanbe told Eurasianet on March 27 on condition of anonymity that the Consulate in Khorog is issuing Afghan passports and that staff have been receiving salaries from the Taliban for the last two months.
“Formally, the consulate is part of the embassy itself, but informally, it is not under our control, and it is directly linked to the Taliban,” the source was cited as saying.
Recall, Afghan media reports reported yesterday that the Taliban-led Afghan government's foreign office has claimed the Taliban delegation traveled to Afghanistan Consulate General in Khorog.
Thus, Kabul Now says the Taliban’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs claimed its delegation visited the General-Consulate of Afghanistan in Khorog on March 25 to assess the consular services and it’s building damaged by recent avalanches. The delegation was reportedly surveying repairs to the consulate building
After the visit, the delegation reportedly shared their assessment with the group’s foreign ministry for reconstruction of the Consulate’s building.
Relations between the Taliban leadership in Kabul and official Dushanbe are strained as Tajik authorities have been outspoken in their demand that the unrecognized Afghan government boost inclusiveness since it took over after the withdrawal of U.S.-led international troops in August 2021.
Kabul Now says Tajikistan is the only neighboring country of Afghanistan that has not accepted Taliban diplomats and has not established diplomatic relations with the group.
