The Taliban’s acting foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, emphasised that change in Afghanistan can only be achieved through cooperation with the group during a meeting with Thomas West, the US Special Representative for Afghanistan, on Thursday.
He added that putting pressure on the Taliban will not be effective and that the Taliban have prevented terrorist threats from Afghanistan.
The spokesperson of the Taliban's foreign ministry, Abdul Qahar Balkhi, stated via Twitter that Muttaqi’s conversation with the US representative about working with the Taliban to achieve changes in Afghanistan "must be accompanied by a positive spirit and cooperation and they should not resort to pressure tactics.”The Taliban's foreign ministry quoted West as saying that "the United States is in favour of engagement, a stable Afghanistan and does not support armed opposition [in this country]."
The United States has asked the Taliban to respect human rights, especially the rights of women in Afghanistan, and to agree to the formation of an inclusive government in the country. Washington wants the Taliban to cut ties with major terrorist groups that are currently present in Afghanistan.
After the recent earthquake in the southeast region of Afghanistan, the US government not only provided 55 million dollars in humanitarian aid to Afghanistan but also started negotiations with the Taliban on the creation of a mechanism for using Afghanistan's frozen foreign exchange reserves by the group.
Representatives from the White House, US Treasury Department and United States Agency for International Development were present during the two-day meeting in Doha in addition to West and others.
