Any Discussion About Recognition of Taliban Unacceptable, Says US State Dept Spokesperson

Vedant Patel, the Deputy Spokesperson of the US State Department, announced that any discussion at the UN meeting in Doha about the recognition of the Taliban would be unacceptable. Patel stressed that the purpose of the meeting was never to discuss recognition of the Taliban.

Earlier, Amina Mohammed, the Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations, expressed hope that in the upcoming meeting of the UN Secretary-General with the special envoys of various countries, initial steps for recognition of the Taliban will be discussed.

The statement of Mohammed has been met with wide-ranging reactions from political groups, activists, and Afghan women.

The political and military groups opposed to the Taliban have also called any discussion on the recognition of the Taliban a "betrayal of the Afghan people".

Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission asked Amina Mohammed to apologise to the people of Afghanistan for her recent remarks about the recognition of the Taliban.

The meeting of the Secretary General of the United Nations with the special representatives of countries for Afghanistan is scheduled to be held in Doha on May 1 and 2.

The UN spokesperson has also said that the meeting will not be focused on the international recognition of the Taliban.