Russia has become the first country to formally recognise Taliban rule, with Afghanistan\u2019s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi calling it a \u201ccourageous\u201d decision.<\/p>\n
He met Russia\u2019s ambassador to Afghanistan, Dmitry Zhirnov, in Kabul on Thursday,where Mr Zhirnov officially conveyed his government\u2019s decision to recognise the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.<\/p>\n
Muttaqi said it was \u201ca new phase of positive relations, mutual respect, and constructive engagement\u201d, and that the shift would serve as \u201can example\u201d to other countries.<\/p>\n
The Taliban have sought international recognition and investment since they returned to power in August 2021, despite reports of increasing violations on human rights.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe that the act of official recognition of the government of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan will give impetus to the development of productive bilateral cooperation between our countries,\u201d Russia\u2019s foreign ministry said in a statement.<\/p>\n
It said Russia saw the potential for \u201ccommercial and economic\u201d cooperation in \u201cenergy, transportation, agriculture and infrastructure\u201d, and that it would continue to help Kabul to fight against the threats of terrorism and drug trafficking.<\/p>\n
Russia was one of very few countries that did not close down their embassy in Afghanistan in 2021, and said on Telegram that \u201cexpanding the dialogue with Kabul\u201d was critical in terms of regional security and economic development.<\/p>\n
The country was also the first to sign an international economic deal with the Taliban in 2022, where they agreed to supply oil, gas and wheat to Afghanistan.<\/p>\n
The Taliban was removed from Russia\u2019s list of terrorist organisations in April this year with the intention to pave the way for the establishment of a \u201cfull-fledged partnership\u201d with Kabul, according to the Russian foreign ministry.<\/p>\n
Russian President Vladimir Putin also referred to the Taliban as an \u201cally\u201d in fighting terrorism in July last year, with representatives travelling to Moscow for talks as early as 2018.<\/p>\n
The two countries have a complex history, after the Soviet Union invaded the country in 1979 and fought a nine-year war that cost them 15,000 personnel.<\/p>\n
The decision to install a USSR-backed government in Kabul turned the Soviets into an international pariah, and they eventually withdrew from Afghanistan in February 1989.<\/p>\n
Western governments and humanitarian organisations have widely condemned the Taliban government, in particular for their implementation of Sharia, which places heavy restrictions on women and girls.<\/p>\n
In the past four years, women have been barred from accessing secondary and higher education, are unable to leave their homes without a male chaperone and are subject to strict dress codes.<\/p>\n
Legislation has become increasingly restrictive, with the latest installation of \u201cvirtue\u201d laws banning women from speaking outside of their home.<\/p>\n
The United Nations has said the rules amount to \u201cgender apartheid\u201d, while also reporting public floggings and brutal attacks on former government officials.<\/p>\n
Strict sanctions were placed on Afghanistan in 2021 by the United Nations Security Council, most notably the freezing of approximately $9bn in assets.<\/p>\n
While China, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Pakistan have all designated ambassadors to Kabul, Russia is now the only country to recognise the Taliban government since their return to power almost four years ago.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Russia has become the first country to formally recognise Taliban rule, with Afghanistan\u2019s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi calling it a \u201ccourageous\u201d decision. He met Russia\u2019s ambassador to Afghanistan, Dmitry Zhirnov, in Kabul on Thursday,where Mr Zhirnov officially conveyed his government\u2019s decision to recognise the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Muttaqi said it was \u201ca new […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-117548","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117548","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117548"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117548\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}