Taliban Should Mend their ways to get Recognition

Afghanistan had another significant natural calamity last month. Flooding like considerable magnitude occurred in the northern regions of Badakhshan, Baghlan, and Takhar. Estimates differ, but it is believed that hundreds of individuals perished and others were forced to leave their residences.
This recent disaster follows a sequence of earthquakes in the western regions of the country towards the end of last year, resulting in a minimum of 2,000 fatalities and 150,000 individuals need urgent assistance from humanitarian organizations.
The impact of these calamities for Afghans is particularly severe due to the absence of effective governance and economic progress in the nation. Ever since the Taliban regained control in August 2021, Afghanistan has been experiencing a rapid decline. There is a scarcity of fundamental medical resources. A vast number of individuals experience the adverse consequences of food insecurity. Despite their effectiveness as rebels, the Taliban have struggled to rule efficiently since reclaiming power.

This dire humanitarian crisis is exacerbated by an additional problem: the Taliban’s incapacity to obtain official diplomatic acknowledgment from the global world. As of yet, no country has officially acknowledged the Taliban as the lawful government of Afghanistan. Consequently, the absence of economic investment and international help deprives the country of potential resources. These are essential necessities that the Afghan people urgently require.

Although some governments maintain indirect or de facto interactions with the Taliban, none of them go as far as granting formal recognition. The lack of reassurance from the Taliban regarding any changes in their governing methods since the 1990s has led to this situation.
A significant number of the commitments they made prior to their acquisition in 2021 have not been fulfilled. Female students are currently prohibited from attending educational institutions. Terrorist organizations like Al-Qaeda have unrestricted movement throughout the nation. Women have been excluded from the workplace.

Adding to the complexity, divisions within the highest levels of the Taliban organization have created uncertainty for the international community regarding which faction to interact with. The presence of these criteria renders the formal acknowledgment of the Taliban challenging, if not unattainable.
International interaction with the Taliban typically occurs due to pragmatic considerations of national self-interest. For instance, the countries in the northern region of Central Asia interact with Kabul only for economic and security purposes. Kazakhstan has entered into economic agreements with the Taliban valued at about $200 million and revoked travel restrictions imposed on high-ranking Taliban authorities.
Meanwhile, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan’s interactions with the Taliban are motivated by their worries on border security and counterterrorism.
Remarkably, Iran is perhaps the country in the region that has the most favorable rapport with the Taliban. The combination of Shiite and Sunni sectarian fanaticism in this context is motivated only by the pursuit of national self-interest and geopolitics. Tehran’s primary motivation for engaging with the Taliban is to secure access to the water resources of the Helmand River, which originates in Afghanistan but enters Iran. Geopolitical interactions between Iran and Sunni-majority regions, Tehran believes that engaging with the Sunni Taliban is the most effective way to counterbalance its Arab neighbors.

Moreover, in a surprising turn of geopolitical irony, the Taliban and Pakistan are currently in conflict despite years of collaboration, resulting in occasional border confrontations. Given the current challenges in the Tehran-Islamabad relationship, the unconventional alliance between Iran and the Taliban is not unexpected.
China and Russia, among other nations on the Eurasian landmass, have opted to interact with the Taliban due to geopolitical considerations. From the standpoint of Moscow and Beijing, the Taliban’s victory against the Western forces in Afghanistan is sufficient grounds to uphold amicable relations with Kabul.
In addition, Russia perceives the Taliban as a viable defense against Daesh, while China sees Afghanistan under Taliban control as a potential supplier of mineral resources.
The Taliban have been excluded from regional and international organizations. The country of Afghanistan, which was previously involved in regional organizations like the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, has been expelled from these blocs. Similarly, multinational institutions like the UN and the World Health Organization exhibit the similar characteristic. Indeed, the United Nations currently maintains international sanctions on certain leaders of the Taliban.

The Taliban’s struggle for worldwide recognition is not unique in Afghanistan. Major anti-Taliban factions also lack the ability to convince the world community to acknowledge their legitimacy.
The National Resistance Force of Afghanistan, the most prominent and largest group of its kind, has not had any official involvement from any country except Tajikistan, and even that occurs discreetly and cautiously.
While other countries will communicate with the Taliban indirectly, there is no comparable level of involvement with the NRF. If nations like the United States and others are able to establish indirect communication with the Taliban, there is no justification for their inability to do so with opposition factions like the NRF.
Unless the Taliban demonstrates responsible governance in Afghanistan and gains the trust of the international community, it is unlikely that any countries will establish diplomatic relations.

As long as the Taliban are considered outcasts on the global stage, the Afghan people will continue to endure the consequences of insufficient economic investment in their country and just a little amount of foreign humanitarian assistance.
In order to promptly alleviate the plight of the Afghan population, the Taliban must fulfill their commitments, renounce terrorism, safeguard the rights of women and minorities, and establish an all-encompassing administration that advocates for the welfare of all Afghan citizens.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of All Citizenz.