Taliban's acting Foreign Min meets Chinese envoy, assured of 3 million COVID vaccine doses

The Taliban-led government's acting foreign minister Amir Khan Mutaqi met the Chinese Ambassador to Afghanistan Wang Yu, said the spokesperson for the group on September 14. Informing about the meeting with the Chinese envoy on social media, Taliban spokesperson Mohammad Naeem said, “Today, the Foreign Minister of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, Maulvi Amir Khan Mottaki, met with the Ambassador of the neighbouring country, Wang Yu, in Kabul.”

“The Chinese ambassador congratulated the new Afghan government. China will continue its humanitarian, economic and political cooperation and relations with Afghanistan,” Naeem added. The Taliban spokesperson also said that China has pledged “$15 million worth of humanitarian aid and continued support for Afghanistan" along with 3 million doses of COVID vaccine.

In response, the acting foreign minister of the Taliban’s government “thanked China for its assistance, adding that China and Afghanistan are neighbours and the development of bilateral relations is in the interest of both sides.”

Meanwhile, the United Nations (UN) also allocated around $20 million funds from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (UN CERF) to support the humanitarian operations in Afghanistan after the Taliban control. Notably, the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said America’s assistance would go directly to non-government organisations and UN agencies providing relief to citizens engulfed in chaos.

Mutaqi met with Pakistan’s Ambassador to Afghanistan

Apart from China’s Wang, Mutaqi also met with Pakistan’s Ambassador Mansoor Ahmad Khan on September 14, said Naeem on Twitter. The Taliban spokesperson also said, “During the meeting, there was a detailed discussion on the movement of people between Spin Boldak and Chaman. The Ambassador of Pakistan promised to facilitate.”

“There was also a detailed discussion on resolving the problems of Pakistani refugees, humanitarian aid and bilateral relations,” Naeem added.

Meanwhile, the Taliban has now brought back the ‘Ministry of Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice’ in the country. Several years after the US-led military occupation in the country abolished the ‘Virtue and Vice’ ministry, the New York Post reported that the Taliban had marked its return which has triggered massive concerns among the Afghans. The shattered citizens in the war-ravaged nation remember the said ministry for its stringent interpretation of Islamic law.

(IMAGE: @leaOffice/Twitter)