The United Nations said Thursday that its upcoming meeting in Doha, Qatar, will not focus on the Taliban recognition but on building a “unified consensus” with the international community regarding Afghanistan.
This came after U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said the U.N. intended to convene a meeting with envoys from across the region to discuss the potential international recognition of the Taliban ruling.
“The point of the discussion, which will be held in a closed private setting, is to build a more unified consensus on the challenges at hand,” Haq added.
He said the U.N. seeks “to reinvigorate international engagement around the sort of common objectives that the international community has on Afghanistan,” which has been ruled by the Taliban since August 2021 following the withdrawal of U.S. troops.
No country has recognized the Taliban as Afghanistan’s legitimate government, and the former government of President Ashraf Ghani still holds the country’s U.N. seat. The Taliban had requested to represent Afghanistan, but the U.N. deferred its decision last December.
“There are some that believe this can never happen. There are others that say, well, it has to happen,” she said. “The Taliban clearly want recognition. And that’s the leverage we have.”
Dujarric said that Mohammed was merely reaffirming the need for a coordinated approach on Afghanistan, “which includes finding common ground on the longer-term vision of the country and sending a unified message to the de facto authorities on the imperative to ensure that women have their rightful place in Afghan society.”
Taliban Recognition ‘Absolutely Absurd’
U.S. senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), the senior Senate Foreign Relations Committee member, has criticized Mohammed for her comments and rejected any discussions about recognizing the Taliban administration.Hillel Neuer, executive director at the U.N. Watch, said the U.N. granting credentials to the Taliban would result in the “misogynist terrorist group” inheriting Afghanistan’s seat on the U.N. Women’s Rights Commission until 2025.