A 100-member Afghan delegation of traders, exporters and private sector representatives travelled to Uzbekistan on Saturday to strengthen trade and economic cooperation between the two countries.
The Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Investment said the delegation travelled to the city of Namangan.
Aryan Zelgi Azimi, the chamber's deputy head, is leading the delegation.
The main objectives of the visit were described as expanding bilateral trade ties, exploring joint investment opportunities and increasing exports and imports between the private sectors of both countries.
The visit comes as Afghanistan’s trade relations with Central Asian countries, particularly Uzbekistan, have expanded significantly in recent months.
Following repeated border disruptions and closures with Pakistan, which sharply reduced trade with its southern neighbour, Kabul has shifted its focus towards diversifying trade partners and strengthening links with northern countries.
Tashkent has in recent years become one of Afghanistan’s key trading partners.
Previously, the two sides signed agreements worth hundreds of millions of dollars covering flour imports, cement, industrial products and the development of transit cooperation.
Earlier, Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban deputy prime minister for economic affairs, expressed hope that travel between Afghanistan and Uzbekistan could eventually take place without visas.
The visit by the large Afghan trade delegation to Namangan is seen as another practical step by Afghanistan’s private sector to make use of emerging opportunities in Central Asian markets.
Ahmad Massoud, leader of the National Resistance Front, thanked members of the European Parliament for opposing the normalisation of relations with the Taliban.
In a message on X on Saturday May, 23 addressed to Pina Picierno, Vice-President of the European Parliament, and to Members of the European Parliament, he wrote that values must not be sacrificed.
Massoud said that, at a time when the rules- and values-based international order is increasingly being weakened and forgotten, Europe must remain committed to the principles it has for years claimed to defend.
Massoud listed these principles as human rights, democracy, human dignity, and the rule of law, saying: "These values must not be sacrificed in the name of pragmatism or appeasement toward a terrorist regime."
In one part of his message, Ahmad Massoud said: “History will remember those who stood on the side of justice, freedom, and human dignity during one of the darkest chapters in our nation’s history.”
The European Union's invitation to the Taliban has been met with a wave of criticism and political protest.
The European Commission has confirmed that, in cooperation with Swedish authorities, it is planning to host technical meetings with a Taliban delegation in the Belgian capital over the coming summer, though the exact date of the visit has not yet been finalised.
This will be the first time that the European Union has officially hosted Taliban officials since the fall of Kabul in August 2021.
Markus Lammert, a spokesperson for the European Commission, confirmed to the media that EU migration officials and Sweden's Ministry of Justice had sent a letter to the Taliban to ascertain their readiness to attend this technical meeting in Brussels.
Pina Picierno, Vice-President of the European Parliament, warned that any agreement with the group would amount to recognising a regime committing crimes against humanity against women.
According to her, Members of the European Parliament oppose any normalisation of relations with the Taliban.
Hannah Neumann, another Member of the European Parliament, also sharply criticised the term "technical” meetings, stressing there is nothing 'technical' about opening doors to extremists while those who fought these extremists are stuck in Afghanistan, Iran or Turkiye, waiting years for visa appointments. Neumann also expressed concern that Taliban officials have now taken control of Afghanistan's consulates in Germany.
This controversial invitation comes after the International Criminal Court in The Hague, in July last year, issued arrest warrants for Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban's leader, and Abdul Hakim Haqqani, the head of the group's Supreme Court, on charges of the systematic persecution of women and girls.
The Taliban at the time described these warrants as a sign of enmity towards Islam and baseless. Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban's spokesperson, had stated: "We do not recognise anything called the International Court, and we do not consider ourselves bound to carry out its orders."
It is not yet clear whether the Taliban delegation sent to Brussels will include individuals who are subject to European Union sanctions.
The Taliban have not yet officially confirmed or denied their attendance at the meeting or the criticism surrounding it.
Sarfraz Bugti, Chief Minister of Pakistan's Balochistan province, says Afghanistan has forgotten Pakistan’s hospitality towards Afghan refugees over the past four decades.
Speaking on Friday in Okara, Bugti said the security situation in Balochistan was more serious than in Punjab.
He added that terrorists have no nationality and claimed that Afghan terrorists fall into that category.
Pakistani officials have repeatedly claimed that insecurity in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa originates from Afghanistan, accusing the Taliban of sheltering and supporting Baloch separatists and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan. The Taliban deny the allegations.
The chief minister of Balochistan claimed that Pakistan had hosted Afghan refugees with an open heart for more than 40 years, but said countries including the United States, Russia, United Kingdom and China now regard them as a security and terrorism threat.
Pakistan has intensified the deportation of Afghan migrants over the past two years as relations with the Taliban have deteriorated, expelling nearly two million people from the country.
Many of those deported had lived in Pakistan for years.
Despite international pressure and criticism, Pakistan has continued the deportation campaign against Afghan migrants.
Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan, on Friday May 22 warned in a note on X about the rising trend of Afghans being deported from neighbouring countries and Europe.
He stressed that Afghanistan is not a safe country and that returnees face the risk of harassment, detention, torture, hunger, and worse.
Richard Bennett added that international human rights obligations must be taken seriously.
These remarks come as, in recent months, several countries, including Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, and some European countries, have intensified the process of deporting or forcibly returning Afghan asylum seekers.
Bennett, who is responsible for monitoring the human rights situation in Afghanistan, has previously warned on numerous occasions about the deteriorating humanitarian and security conditions in the Taliban-controlled country.
He reposted on his X account a report in which Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, stressed that countries must halt deportations to Afghanistan.
Volker Türk described the European Union's proposed new rules on the deportation of Afghan asylum seekers as concerning. The UN official stressed that returning asylum seekers to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan places them at serious risk.
In a statement on Friday May 22, Volker Türk described the deportation of Afghan asylum seekers as a violation of international refugee and human rights law and said that the proposed rules on migration currently under consideration in the European Union weaken human rights guarantees and expose asylum seekers to harm.
The UN high commissioner said Afghan women, children and men are being expelled from countries where they sought safety and are being forced to return to Afghanistan against their will, exposing them to serious danger.
He stressed that returning people who face serious threats violates the fundamental principle of non-refoulement and urged governments to uphold their international legal obligations towards refugees.
A spokesperson for the UN Human Rights Office has also criticised the deportation of Afghan migrants from host countries, saying the move puts returnees at risk.
So far, no official reaction has been released by the Taliban or by the deporting countries.
The European Union is facing strong criticism from lawmakers and human rights groups after inviting Taliban officials to Brussels for talks on the deportation of Afghan refugees.
The European Commission confirmed that, together with Swedish authorities, it is planning to host technical meetings with a Taliban delegation in the Belgian capital during the coming summer, although the exact date has not yet been finalised.
If the visit goes ahead, it will mark the first time since the fall of Kabul in August 2021 that the European Union has officially hosted Taliban officials.
The last time a European country hosted a Taliban delegation, in Oslo for talks with humanitarian organisations, the move triggered widespread street protests.
Markus Lammert, a spokesperson for the European Commission confirmed that EU migration officials and Sweden’s justice ministry had sent a letter to the Taliban to assess their willingness to attend the technical meeting in Brussels.
According to Lammert, the discussions focus on a proposal put forward in October last year by 20 EU and Schengen member states.
Under the proposal, member states seek to deport Afghan asylum seekers who are not granted residency rights and are considered security threats back to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.
He stressed, however, that the talks do not amount to recognising the Taliban as Afghanistan’s legitimate government.
At present, Russia remains the only country to have formally recognised the Taliban administration.
A Betrayal Of European Values
According to figures from the European Union Agency for Asylum, around 65 percent of Afghans are granted asylum in Europe but plans to deport the remaining 35 per cent to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan have sparked outrage.
Raquel Garcia Hermida-van der Walle, a member of the European Parliament from the Netherlands, condemned the move, saying: "Inviting a Taliban delegation to Brussels to discuss migration is a betrayal of our values. The Taliban receive the privilege of dealmaking with the entire European Union, and some seem fine with it."
She added: “Europeans died to give women and girls their rights. So no, don't legitimise the Taliban, ever. Those who carry out crimes against humanity should never set foot on European soil without passing through the International Criminal Court in The Hague first.”
At the same time, Pina Picierno, Vice-President of the European Parliament, submitted a written question to the European Commission demanding a justification for the decision.
She asked how the Commission could justify the move when the United Nations regards the forced return of Afghan asylum seekers as contrary to international law and the Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled against the deportation of Afghan women, arguing that engaging with the Taliban goes beyond a simple operational contact and amounts to the de facto recognition of a repressive regime that commits crimes against humanity against women and girls.
Hannah Neumann, another member of the European Parliament, also sharply criticised the term "technical meetings", saying: "There is nothing 'technical' about opening doors to extremists while those who fought these extremists are stuck in Afghanistan, Iran or Turkiye, waiting years for visa appointments." Neumann also expressed concern that Taliban officials now run Afghanistan's consulates in Germany "as if it were the most normal thing in the world."
Neumann also expressed concern that Taliban officials are now overseeing Afghan consulates in Germany.
The controversial invitation comes after the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in July last year for Hibatullah Akhundzada and Abdul Hakim Haqqani over the systematic persecution of women and girls.
At the time, the Taliban dismissed the warrants as “meaningless” and evidence of “hostility towards Islam”.
Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban Spokesman, said: “We do not recognise anything called the international court and do not consider ourselves bound by its orders.”
It remains unclear whether the Taliban delegation travelling to Brussels would include individuals subject to EU sanctions.
When asked who would pay for the Taliban delegation’s flights, Markus Lammert said the EU had not yet reached that stage and was currently only assessing the Taliban’s willingness to participate in the talks.
The Taliban have so far neither officially confirmed nor denied their participation in the meeting or responded publicly to the criticism surrounding it.
India says it has sent 20 tones of essential supplies for BCG, tetanus and diphtheria vaccines to Kabul to support Afghanistan’s child immunisation programme.
Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for India's Ministry of External Affairs said on Friday that India had delivered the medical supplies and vaccine materials to support Afghanistan’s national child immunisation programme.
He described the assistance as an important step towards meeting the needs of Afghanistan’s health sector.
Jaiswal said the shipment includes specialised dry materials used in the preparation of BCG, tetanus and diphtheria vaccines, which are considered vital for children’s health and strengthening immunity.
He stressed that India remains committed to supporting the Afghan people in the healthcare sector.
New Delhi said it would continue its cooperation to improve health services and help save the lives of Afghan children.
India has been strengthening ties with the Taliban and, following the closure of Afghanistan’s border crossings with Pakistan, has repeatedly sent medicine and medical equipment to Kabul.