Pakistan to Send Ambassador to Taliban Regime

New Delhi: Pakistan will appoint an ambassador to the Taliban-run Afghanistan, where its highest diplomatic official is currently a charge-d'affaires, it said on Friday (May 30), marking an improvement in the two countries’ strained bilateral relations.

The announcement by Pakistani foreign minister and deputy prime minister Ishaq Dar came days after he met his Afghan and Chinese counterparts, Amir Khan Muttaqi and Wang Yi, in Beijing, where Islamabad and Kabul had discussed enhancing ties.

Writing on X on Friday, Dar described Pakistan-Afghanistan relations as being on a “positive trajectory” after his meeting with Muttaqi, who is the Taliban's acting foreign minister, in Kabul last month.

He said: “To maintain this momentum, I am pleased to announce the decision of the Government of Pakistan to upgrade the level of its Chargé d'Affaires in Kabul to the level of Ambassador.”

“I am confident this step would further contribute towards enhanced engagement, deepen Pak-Afghan cooperation in economic, security, CT & trade areas and promote further exchanges between two fraternal countries,” Dar continued.

Kabul is yet to officially respond to the announcement.

Pakistan is the fourth country to designate an ambassador as its highest diplomatic representative to Afghanistan since its 2021 takeover by the Taliban, after China, the UAE and Uzbekistan.

None of these countries – or any nation in the world for that matter – formally recognises the Taliban regime, but it has been noted that an ambassador presenting their credentials to the regime in Kabul would count as a step in the way of recognition.

While Pakistan and Afghanistan said they discussed enhancing bilateral ties and trade following the informal trilateral foreign ministers' meeting in Beijing on May 21, the Chinese foreign ministry's readout said that Islamabad and Kabul “agreed in principle to exchange ambassadors as soon as possible”.

The three sides also discussed extending the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor to Afghanistan, Beijing’s readout further said. Pakistan's state-run radio also mentioned discussions on this topic.

Friday's announcement also comes against the backdrop of enhanced relations between Afghanistan and India, with a phone call by external affairs minister S. Jaishankar with Muttaqi earlier this month marking the first ministerial-level engagement between New Delhi and the Taliban regime after it stormed to power four years ago.

Before the May 15 phone call, foreign secretary Vikram Misri had met Muttaqi in Doha in January.

Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have been tense amid Kabul's opposition to Islamabad’s demarcation of their western frontier, Afghanistan's support for the Tehreek-i-Taliban militant group operating across the border, recurring clashes between the Pakistani army and Taliban forces, and the expulsion of Afghan refugees by the Pakistani government.

The recent thaw in relations began when Dar met Muttaqi on April 19 in Kabul.

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