Pakistan Quietly Allows Taliban-Appointed Diplomats To Take Charge Of Afghan Embassy & Consulates

Pakistan has been trying to convince the world to diplomatically engage with the Taliban after they seized back power in Afghanistan on August 15 this year.

Representative Photo: AFP

New Delhi: Pakistan has quietly allowed the Taliban-appointed diplomats to take charge of the Afghan embassy and consulates in the country, news agency PTI cited a media report as informing on Saturday.

This reported development comes as Pakistan does not recognise the Taliban as the legitimate government in Kabul, nevertheless, visas have been issued to the appointed diplomats.

According to the report by the Dawn newspaper, Sardar Muhammad Shokaib has started working as the first secretary in the Afghan embassy in Islamabad, while Hafiz Mohibullah, Mullah Ghulam Rasool, and Mullah Muhammad Abbas have been assigned to the Peshawar, Quetta, and Karachi consulates of Afghanistan.

Shokaib would effectively be the Afghan charge d'affaires in Islamabad, PTI informed citing the report.

The Afghan embassy remained without an ambassador since July when the last envoy under the previous regime, Najibullah Alikhil, left because of the alleged abduction of his daughter Silsila Alikhil.

While details about Sardar Muhammad Shokaib are awaited, a report by Voice of America mentions that he is an ethnic Pashtun from Zabul province who served in the Information and Cultural Department in southern Kandahar and was associated with a Taliban magazine.

He was reported to have once worked as the Taliban spokesman under the name of Qari Yousaf Ahmadi and was arrested in Pakistan and later lived in Peshawar for several years.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesperson Asim Iftikhar tried to play down the new appointments by saying that it was an “administrative matter”.

“With regard to appointment of new staff in the Afghan embassy, this is an administrative matter and is meant to enable the embassy to perform its functions, primarily the consular functions as you are aware there are millions of Afghan refugees in Pakistan and there are visa issues as well,” he said, as mentioned in the news agency’s report.

Recently, Pakistan has been trying to convince the world to diplomatically engage with the Taliban after they established their de-facto control on Afghanistan on August 15. 

However, the world continues to be skeptical, trying to assess the ultra-conservative regime on promises to respect human rights before any kind of recognition.