Pakistan: Amir Khan Muttaqi, the acting Foreign Minister of Afghanistan's Taliban government, will visit Pakistan in the coming days as part of efforts by both sides to rebuild ties following the fall of Kabul, According to reports.
If Muttaqi goes ahead with his Pakistan visit, experts on Afghan affairs told the Global Times on Monday, it will be another step toward regional recognition of the Taliban government. The Taliban government's Interim Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister arrived in Moscow on October 20 to attend Russia's Moscow International Conference on Afghanistan. It was the Taliban's first visit to Moscow and meeting with senior Kremlin officials since seizing control of Kabul in August.
Muttaqi's visit to Pakistan is likely to be transactional, according to Zhu Yongbiao, Director of Lanzhou University's Center for Afghanistan Studies, who told the Global Times on Monday that the visit will focus on practical issues of mutual concern, such as the Afghan Taliban's role as a mediator between the Pakistani government and the Pakistani Taliban.
Because of the special relationship and historical entanglement between the Taliban and Pakistan, which was once considered by the international community to be the first country to recognise the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, he said the timing and choice of country for this visit was not surprising.
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