A secret meeting on the issue of Afghanistan under the chairmanship of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres will be held in Doha on Monday, to which the leadership of the Taliban has not been invited.
According to the news agency AFP, the purpose of this meeting hosted by the United Nations is to consider ways to increase influence over the leadership of the Taliban.
Delegates from about 25 countries, including Pakistan, and representatives of international organisations have been invited to participate in the meeting.
US State Department spokesman Vedant Patel has said that recognising the Taliban will not be considered in any way.
The location of the talks in Doha has been kept secret by the United Nations.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will also inform the participants of the meeting about the future of the United Nations relief operation in Afghanistan.
The United Nations has to make a final decision regarding the continuation of its operation in Afghanistan after the Taliban banned women from working.
According to United Nations spokesperson Stephane Dujarric, the purpose of the meeting is to mobilise the international community around common goals to move forward on the issue of Afghanistan.
He further said that the issue is not to recognise the Taliban government but to give a common message on the issues of women, human rights, anti-terrorism, and drug trafficking.
The United Nations and other groups are desperately trying to come up with a solution to influence the Taliban and change their behaviour.
In this regard, in recent weeks, US special representative Thomas West visited various countries where he met with representatives of government and foreign organisations.
Before the United Nations meeting, women also held a protest rally against recognising the Taliban in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, but the United Nations and Western powers have assured that this issue will not be considered.
The Taliban’s Deputy Minister for Refugees, Mohammad Ursula Kharuti, responded by saying, “This type of meeting will not yield any results.”
He said that “until the Islamic Emirates do not establish relations with Afghanistan properly and there is no representative of the Emirates in the meeting, then such meetings will not be successful.”
On Wednesday, the head of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) said that the United Nations may take the “regrettable” decision to withdraw from Afghanistan in May if his agency fails to convince the Taliban about women’s work. is ready.
UNDP Administrator Ekim Steiner said the United Nations was in talks with the Afghan Taliban in hopes of allowing women to work with the agency this month.
It should be noted that at the beginning of this month, the leadership of the Taliban stopped Afghan women from working at the United Nations under a decree.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said that “banning women working for the United Nations is an internal issue of our country, and our decisions should be respected.”