Moscow format meet: 10 nations aim to convene intl donor conference; Read joint statement

10 countries participated in the third Moscow Format meeting on Thursday with a Taliban delegation led by Afghanistan Deputy PM Mawlawi Hanafi. India, Russia, China, Pakistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan released a joint statement reiterating their respect to the sovereignty and independence of Afghanistan. It also stressed that Afghanistan should be an economically developing state without the menace of terrorism and drug-related crime. The participating countries also called upon the Taliban regime to adopt moderate policies and a friendly approach towards its neighbours besides respecting the rights of ethnic groups, women and children.

The joint statement read, "It was stated that further practical engagement with Afghanistan needed to take into account the new reality, that is the Taliban coming to power in the country, irrespective of the official recognition of the new Afghan government by the international community. Participating countries call on the current Afghan leadership to take further steps to improve governance and to form a truly inclusive government that adequately reflects the interests of all major ethnopolitical forces in the country. This will be a fundamental prerequisite for the completion of the national reconciliation process in Afghanistan." 

Expressing concern over the activities of banned terrorist organizations in the war-torn country, they acknowledged the Taliban's promise that it will prevent the use of its territory against other countries of the world. The statement also affirmed that need for the international community to provide "urgent humanitarian and economic assistance" to Afghanistan. Proposing to launch a collective initiative to convene an international donor conference, it stressed that the US and other nations who had a military presence in Afghanistan must shoulder the core burden of the post-conflict economic and financial reconstruction.

Read the joint statement here: 

Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan

After the Taliban stormed into Kabul on August 15, Afghanistan president Ashraf Ghani resigned and fled the country with his associates. Since then, several persons have lost their lives in the chaos at the Hamid Karzai International Airport with thousands of people desperately trying to flee the country. This includes the death of at least 169 Afghans, 11 US Marines, a US Navy sailor, and a US Army soldier in a suicide bombing at the Abbey Gate of the Kabul airport on August 26. This led to US airstrikes on terrorists belonging to ISIS-K which claimed responsibility for this attack.

On August 31, the Taliban gained control of the Kabul airport after the last batch of US troops left Afghanistan. Though the Taliban promised to form an "inclusive" government to run Afghanistan, it announced a caretaker Cabinet that neither has women nor mainstream politicians from previous regimes. While Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund, the chief of the Taliban's Rehbari Shura, is the new Prime Minister, he has two deputies in Mullah Baradar and Mawlawi Hanafi. So far, the terror outfit's rule has been marked by repression of women's rights, restrictions on media, economic crisis and atrocities on Panjshir residents.