Ruchi Kumar
There are only a handful of places a minister in the Taliban’s de facto Afghan government can fly to these days, and Russia is one of them. Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi was invited to Moscow earlier this month to participate in the sixth meeting of the Consultations on Afghanistan hosted by the Russian government.
Known simply as the Moscow Format, the meeting also saw the participation of regional stakeholders including China, India, Iran, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Among the issues discussed were regional and global security concerns, the development of economic and trade opportunities, and humanitarian support for Afghanistan.
The Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 2021 and their government is yet to receive official recognition by any country. But despite lacking legitimacy, the insurgent group has managed to gather allies in the region. Earlier this year, Beijing became the first government to officially accept diplomatic credentials from a Taliban-appointed envoy. They were soon followed by the UAE and, more recently, Uzbekistan, just days after the Moscow format.
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