Qatar, which hosted meetings over the last few days to assess progress in intra-Afghan negotiations, announced that all participants had “reaffirmed that they will not recognise any government in Afghanistan that is imposed through the use of military force”. This is contrary to reports that China was looking to recognise the Taliban after it takes over Kabul.
Qatar held a meeting on August 10 with the US, UK, EU, China, Uzbekistan, Pakistan and the UN in Doha and followed it up with another meeting separately on August 12 with representatives of India, Germany, Norway, Tajikistan, Turkey, and Turkmenistan.
According to the Qatar foreign ministry, all participants in both meetings urged the Afghan government and the Taliban to take steps to build trust and accelerate efforts to reach a political settlement and comprehensive ceasefire as quickly as possible.
They also took note of statements by both sides on the “guiding principles” for a political settlement that included a commitment not allow any individual or groups to use the soil of Afghanistan “to threaten the security of other countries”. This has been one of India’s primary concerns.
Among the other principles were inclusive governance, respect for human rights, including the rights of women and minorities, a mechanism to deliver a representative government and respect for international law, including international humanitarian law.
The participants also raised “grave concerns” about reports from across Afghanistan about large numbers of civilian casualties and extra-judicial killings, as also “widespread and credible allegations of human rights violations, all attacks (ground and air) against provincial capitals and cities, and the destruction of physical infrastructure that perpetuate conflict and make reconciliation efforts more difficult”.
