Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, said considers the US to be the only obstacle to formal recognition of the Islamic Emirate.
“The meetings we have with the nations, especially the NATO nations and the European community, they all tell us the same thing–that they are ready to come to Afghanistan if we resolve our differences with America,” he said.
The Islamic Emirate’s discussions with America went on in secret from 2007 until 2018, according to Stankzai, one of the key participants in the Doha negotiations on the Islamic Emirate side.
“We started negotiations with the Americans in 2007. And from 2007 to 2021, which was the last withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan, I was responsible for all negotiations between the US and the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,” Stanikzai said. This official of the Islamic Emirate acknowledged that there is ongoing resistance by groups opposed to the current government in Panjshir and Andarab, and, as a result, more security outposts are necessary to maintain security.
“There is no resistance in other provinces. There is some resistance in Panjshir, or in Andarab, or in some other provinces, and it is the duty of the Islamic Emirate to ensure security there,” he said.
Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai stated in the interview that the US and other neighbouring countries violates the nation’s airspace and that the Afghanistan air force lacks adequate resources to counter this.
—Agency
