Supporters of Inclusive Govt Using It As An Excuse To Create Obstacles, Says Taliban’s FM

Amir Khan Muttaqi, Taliban’s Foreign Minister, indirectly pointed to those who call for the formation of an inclusive government and said that they are creating obstacles in the way of the group’s government under this “pretext”.

Muttaqi added that so far, no definition or example of an inclusive government has been provided.

Ahmad Zia Takal, deputy spokesperson of the Taliban’s foreign ministry quoted Muttaqi on social media platform X and wrote, "In the last 20 years, the occupiers, martyred and imprisoned Afghans who opposed the occupation in the name of terrorism."

Taliban’s FM said that so far, no specific definition and example of terrorism and inclusive government has been provided.

It is not clear where Muttaqi made these statements.

In the past two years, the Taliban has not complied to the repeated demands of the international community and neighbouring countries to form an inclusive government.

No country recognises the Taliban government yet. Formation of an inclusive government and ensuring the rights of citizens are among the prerequisites of the international community for the recognition of the Taliban.

Earlier, Muttaqi indirectly criticised the Iranian government for insisting on formation of an inclusive government in Afghanistan. Without mentioning Iran, he sarcastically said that the Taliban has fewer prisoners than the number of executions carried out in those countries. He added, "Do you have an inclusive government?"

In response to his remarks, Rasoul Mousavi, Iran’s assistant foreign minister, told the group not to run away from its international responsibilities. On his X social media platform, Mousavi wrote, "An inclusive government in Afghanistan guarantees peace, stability, security and sustainable development.”

He added that the formation of an inclusive government was sought in the UN Security Council’s Resolutions 2513 and 2593 and the foreign ministers of Afghanistan's neighbouring countries including Iran, Pakistan, China, and Turkmenistan called for the same.