Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi met for the first time in New York today with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, during which the two leaders discussed the possible issue of Afghanistan.
The meeting, which lasted about an hour, began at 1 pm on the State Department's website at the Palace Hotel in New York, the first meeting between the two top diplomats.
Both the United States and Pakistan have said they will issue a statement later on the meeting, while Antony Blinken will also give a press briefing at 5pm local time.
Pakistan has long sought high-level contacts with the US leadership, especially since the fall of the US-backed government in Kabul.
Shah Mehmood Qureshi, who is in New York to attend the 76th session of the UN General Assembly, has been holding a series of bilateral meetings with his counterparts, urging world leaders in his meetings and other engagements to Stay in touch with the new rulers of Afghanistan.
He is expected to have said the same thing in a meeting with the US Secretary of State. Pakistan has not yet supported the Taliban's demand in the UN General Assembly.
By Thursday, it was clear that Afghanistan's new rulers were unlikely to represent the country in the current session of the UN General Assembly.
The issue of Taliban participation in the UN General Assembly
Representatives of the previous Afghan government are still on the Afghan mission to the United Nations despite the Taliban regime in Mill. On Tuesday, they attended a session addressed by US President Joe Biden.
A diplomatic source told that he would remain in the mission until a high-profile UN committee decides on the mission.
On September 15, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres received a letter from the then-recognized Afghan Ambassador, Ghulam Ishaqzai, stating that he and other members of his team had visited Afghanistan at the 76th session of the UN General Assembly. Will represent
However, on September 20, the Taliban-controlled Afghan Foreign Ministry also sent a message to Guterres requesting him to attend the current UN General Assembly session, in which Taliban leader Amir Khan Mottaki appointed the new Afghan Foreign Minister.
UN spokesman Stephen Dujarric confirmed the two letters to reporters in New York.
Dujarric said the letter said former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani had been ousted on August 15 and that his envoys no longer represented Afghanistan.
Afghanistan has until September 27 to address the General Assembly, but the Taliban are unlikely to find a place at the moment.
Diplomatic sources said the nine-member high-level committee of the General Assembly, which makes such decisions, is unlikely to meet before September 27.
However, sources confirmed that the secretary general's office had sent both letters to the committee after consulting with President of the Maldives General Assembly Abdullah Shahid and Sweden.
Diplomatic sources in Washington told that the United States was in no hurry to ratify the Taliban's request to join the United Nations as a legitimate Afghan government.
Speaking to various US media outlets, senior US State Department officials said they were aware of the Taliban's request but would take some time to consider, indicating that a Taliban representative would visit the UN on September 27. Will not address GA.
One possibility, however, is that the current Afghan ambassador will not be allowed to address the General Assembly as it would signal support for the previous government and have far-reaching implications.
But the former Afghan government still has the support of the United Nations, and apparently India is leading the campaign to allow its envoy to address the General Assembly.
Allowing a Taliban leader to address the General Assembly would be tantamount to the UN recognizing the new administration in Kabul, and the UN is not yet ready to do so.
When the Taliban last ruled from 1996 to 2001, the United Nations refused to recognize their government and instead gave the Afghan seat to President Burhanuddin Rabbani's previous government.
US media noted that this time the United Nations could be more lenient with the Taliban, but only if they form a comprehensive government, guarantee human rights, return girls to school and employ women.
