Doha to Host Meeting on Afghanistan This Sunday

In two days, Doha will be hosting a meeting with nearly 20 countries’ representatives on Afghanistan, but the Islamic Emirate has yet to confirm its participation in the meeting.

TOLOnews has seen a list showing that representatives from Russia, China, Iran, India, Japan, Tajikistan, US, France, Germany, and the EU will take part in the meeting.

The spokesperson for the UN General-Secretary has said that the UN chief is set to travel to Qatar on Sunday (February 18) to participate in the meeting.

“As we mentioned when we first announced the meeting, the objective is to discuss how to approach increasing international engagement in a more coherent, coordinated and structured manner, including through consideration of the recommendations of the independent assessment on Afghanistan,” said Stéphane Dujarric, the spokesman for the UN chief.

Dujarric added that women will also participate in the meeting to raise the voices of Afghan women.

“As we said there will be a meeting between the envoys and civil society groups, which of course include Afghan women. It is very important that the voices of Afghan women be heard in these discussions,” said Stéphane Dujarric.

As the meeting is set to begin on Sunday, Uzbekistan president’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, Ismatullah Irgashev met with Hassan Hamza Assad Muhammad Hoshim, Qatar’s ambassador to Uzbekistan.

They talked about the importance of the Doha meeting.

“The two sides discussed the current state of cooperation between the two countries on Afghanistan and the upcoming Doha meeting,” reads part of the statement of the foreign ministry of Uzbekistan.

“The upcoming Doha meeting is important for Afghanistan and if the Taliban participate in the meeting, it will be a plus point, so that they see the world’s decisions,” said Wais Naseri, a political analyst.

Earlier, the Islamic Emirate said that they have presented conditions to the UN for their participation in the Doha meeting.