Hamid Karzai, Abdullah Abdullah meet to discuss Afghanistan's sinking economy: Reports

Abdullah Abdullah, who was the chairman of Afghanistan's High Council for National Reconciliation under the previous government, met former Afghanistan president Hamid Karzai to discuss the deteriorating economic condition of the country, local media reported on Tuesday, October 26. Informing about the same, Aamaj News agency wrote on a Twitter post, "Abdullah Abdullah met with former President Hamid Karzai. Mr Abdullah said the meeting focused on the difficult economic situation in the country and called on aid organisations to provide urgent humanitarian assistance before winter arrives and recent political developments in the country."

Abdullah and Karzai remained in Afghanistan after the Taliban took control of the country and have attempted to push for an inclusive administration since then. The fact that not all Afghan political groups attended the Moscow-format discussion on the country's situation last week had no effect on the conference's outcomes, according to Russian Special Presidential Representative for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov. 

"This (absence of Afghan political groups) did not affect it in any way because we originally assumed that there would be one Afghan delegation," Kabulov said at a press conference.

'To claim it had an effect would be an overstatement': Russian envoy on Moscow meet

According to Kabulov, Moscow discussed with the Afghan foreign ministry the possibility of including some prominent political leaders in their delegation, such as ex-president Hamid Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah, but the Taliban (banned in Russia) preferred not to invite them.

"So to claim it had an effect would be an overstatement. No, it did not, but we regret that other ethno-political forces could not be invited," Kabulov was quoted by Sputnik as saying. The Russian capital convened a discussion on the situation in Afghanistan on October 20, following the collapse of the old government and the Taliban's takeover of the country in mid-August. The Summit was attended by representatives from 10 countries as well as a high-ranking delegation from the Taliban movement.

On August 15, Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani had resigned and fled the country with his associates as the Taliban too over Kabul. Several individuals have died since then in the turmoil at the Hamid Karzai International Airport, and thousands of Afghans continue trying to exit the country. The deceased include at least 169 Afghans, 11 US Marines, a US Navy sailor, and a US Army soldier killed in a suicide attack at the Kabul airport's Abbey Gate on August 26.

(With inputs from agencies, Image: AP)