Peshawar:
From Russia’s perspective, the most dangerous international terrorist team is Daesh or IS-KP, but other militant groups also represented a serious danger to the region, such as the TTP to Pakistan and Etim to China, said the special envoy of Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov on Tuesday.
In an exclusive interaction with the Express PAkGazette, Kabulov declared that Russia was on the same page with Pakistan and China that the threat of these groups should not be underestimated, and that they must be eliminated, otherwise, they could damage diplomatic ties with Beijing and Islamabad.
“We have the information that Pakistan and China complain regularly with Emirate-E-Islami in TTP and Etim. While the Afghan regime always officially denied it, we believe that the two fraternal countries should solve the problems bilaterally,” Kabulov said.
“We face [Afghanistan] With the information that Islamabad has registered complaints about TTP and Etim or the jihadist group several times. We believe that the Afghan government should be assisted enough to help stop the threat of militancy in Afghan soil, “he added.
The Afghan government must address so many irritating problems with its neighboring countries in a friendly way. “The Russia Federation is on the same page with Pakistan and China that these irritating issues could damage diplomatic ties with Beijing and Islamabad,” Kabulov said.
Quoting a statement by the Secretary of the Russian Security Council, Sergei Shoigu, that the presence of 23,000 foreign terrorists on Afghan soil was alarming, said: “We believe that it is important that the Russian government helped Afghanistan to stop this threat.”
The Russian special envoy stated that the decision to recognize the Afghan Taliban government was based not only on economic or political considerations, but also included the consideration of security, since Moscow believed that the strengthening of the Kabul regime would help eliminate terrorism from the Afghan soil.
“The main reason behind the recognition of Emirate-E-Islami Afghanistan is Moscow’s desire to establish full political and economic ties with the new Aphganistan authorities. It also aimed to guarantee the security concerns of neighboring countries,” he said.
“The factors behind recognition are not only political, there are multiple reasons behind this decision,” Kabulov said. “[It is about] Safeguard Russian investment in Afghanistan. We want a safe environment for our investments. “
When asked about the recognition of the Kabul regime for other countries, Kabulov admitted that it would not be an easy decision for the international community. In this sense, he referred to the reserves expressed by countries such as Pakistan, China, Iran, India and others.
He said that China has not recognized Afghanistan formally, but received its ambassador and accepted diplomatic credentials. Pakistan also raised the state of the Afghan envoy to Ambassador, which is a green light towards recognition, he added.
However, he continued, Russia adopted a more traditional form and began an intergovernmental and interstate relationship. The Russian special envoy supported the trilateral process between Pakistan, China and Afghanistan, but emphasized that for now Moscow does not plan to join this process.
“We have no plan to be part of the tripartite process. Afghanistan is a common issue of Eurasian countries, they support Islamabad and Tehran in their approaches in the diplomatic front, which is not different from the Moscow format,” he said.
“We believe that consultations are fruitful in Afghanistan. We support such contacts of regional states in Afghanistan,” he said. “We believe that establishing economic and political ties with Afghanistan will reduce terrorist threats.”
Answering another question about what benefits Moscow would have to recognize the Afghan Taliban regime, Kabulov believed that it would be too early to measure any benefit, emphasizing that the result of any diplomatic commitment has been for years.
Russia and Afghanistan can obtain mutual benefits, including economic growth and progress in industrial and agricultural sectors. Then, in the coming years, he added, “we would jointly evaluate the benefits for both countries.”
Kabulov stressed that Russian investment in Afghanistan would also benefit its immediate neighbors, Iran and Pakistan. He stressed that Afghanistan had an important geographical location in the region. “Pakistan will also benefit from Russian investment in the region.”
The Russian envoy supported Chinese projects in Pakistan and Afghanistan. “Chinese projects will develop Pakistan’s economy,” he said, referring to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). “I heard that Kabul also appreciates such offers from Beijing. We support such projects from China.”
In the end, according to Kabulov, Afghanistan would benefit more from the CPEC project, since the country served as a bridge between the states of southern Asia and Central Asia and towards the Eurasian nations. Russia has described CPEC a positive economic commitment, he said.
The envoy expressed his pain for deaths in the earthquake in five provinces of Afghanistan. He expressed condolences to the Government of Afghanistan for the loss of human life and human suffering due to the natural disaster that hit Sunday.
Speaking about the repatriation of Afghan refugees, he explained that Russia and Afghanistan have bilateral relationships; Therefore, Kabul had not discussed the problems of refugees with Moscow. However, he said that Russian investment would help create jobs in Afghanistan.
