The second term of Taliban accession to power in Afghanistan and subsequent governance appears to be a shade different from the first one. The people in power are now acting a bit sensible and we have cogent reasons to believe that the present regime might perform with a more pragmatic approach. Hence the statement of the Russian Special Representative, Zamir Kabulov that Russia and India can play a role in reviving the “intra-Afghan dialogue” if the Taliban requests such assistance, leads to some credence.
In a recent interview Mr. Kabulov, who is the longest-serving Kremlin official in Afghanistan, has expressed his optimism for establishment of an intra-afghan popular government in place. He said the Taliban’s counter-terror measures are “insufficient” but they deserve “tribute” and that the regional countries should come forward to help the Taliban defeat the security threats. He however cautioned the United Nations not to allow the representative of the previous Afghan government to continue occupying the chair of the Permanent Representative of Afghanistan at the United Nations as it may set an incorrect precedent and might impede any process of normalcy in the disturbed Afghanistan.
Kabulov also articulated that the Taliban will learn from the mistakes made by the former President Ghani and from its previous experience in 1996-2001. The present regime may find a solution through broadly representative intra-Afghan consultations, a Loya Jirga type – and that is up to the Afghan people themselves to decide. He said that Russia is ready to provide necessary assistance in this regard if such an indication comes from Kabul and expressed his confidence on India’s crucial intermediary role. He also former blamed President Ghani for not initiating a fruitful political process which should have incorporated the Taliban in governance.
Mr. Kabulov further discussed about the abject reality and present status of Afghanistan and a notion of Russian perspective in resolving the critical issues. As a matter fact the Taliban controls the majority part of Afghanistan and the interim government appears somber in functioning. He stated that from a pragmatic Russian point of view, the opponents of Taliban do not stand anywhere.
Zamir Kabulov who carries immense experience in the internal wrangling of Afghanistan holds that the Taliban are heterogeneous and there are various factions with differing opinions within the outfit itself. The most conflicting issue is the ‘education for women’. The Southern and Northern part of Afghanistan hold opposing views in providing education to girls.
The veteran Russian negotiator believes that there is a possibility of the spread of terrorism from Afghanistan to neighbouring countries and that there is a foreign angle to some of the recent incidents of terrorism that were aimed at sharpening existing fault lines within the Afghan society. “We see that the Taliban forces are doing a serious job to fight the ISIS and other terrorist groups in the country, although they are still far from solving the problem as a whole,” said Mr. Kabulov, adding, “it is worth paying tribute to the counter-terrorism measures taken by the Taliban government, but we believe them to be insufficient.”
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He, however, cautioned that terrorist groups like the ISIS, the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Jamaat Ansarullah are active in the north and the east and other parts of Afghan territory. Mr. Kabulov argued that attacks by the ISIS targeting minorities in Afghanistan have external fingerprints.
“It is true that representatives of religious or ethnic minorities often become victims of terrorist attacks, first of all by the ISIS. Explosions took place in Shiah areas and near a Sikh Gurudwara… We should realise who benefits from it, and then we will see who stands behind it. As a rule, organisers of such resonant acts of terrorism are traced beyond the territory of Afghanistan,” said Mr. Kabulov who also served as the Ambassador of Moscow to Afghanistan during 2004-’09, a particularly violent phase in the recent Afghan history.
He argued that the Taliban representatives have already begun to participate in international meetings representing Afghanistan like the 3 rd meeting of the Moscow Format Consultations (October 20, 2021), the Tunxi Initiative of the Neighbouring Countries of Afghanistan (March 31, 2022) and the Tashkent International Conference (July 25-26, 2022), and said Russia considers it “inappropriate if the position of the Permanent Representative of Afghanistan is further occupied by Mr. (Naseer Mohammed) Faiq, since he neither represents the interests of the current Afghan authorities nor the former regime.” He further pointed out that Mr. Faiq supported the March 2, 2022 UNGA resolution against Russia on the war in Ukraine and said his position ignored “traditional principles of the Afghani foreign policy.”
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