RASC News Agency: Shehbaz Sharif, the Prime Minister of Pakistan, once again urged the formation of an inclusive government in Afghanistan under Taliban control. He raised this concern during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit held in Islamabad on Wednesday, October 16th. Sharif stressed that the Taliban must ensure that Afghanistan soil is not used by terrorist groups to launch attacks against other nations. As reported by “The Express Tribune”, Sharif also called upon the international community to extend its support to the Afghanistani people. In his view, a stable Afghanistan is crucial for facilitating regional economic projects.
During this summit, leaders from various SCO member states, including China’s Premier Li Qiang, Russia’s Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Iran’s Vice President Mohammad Reza Arif, as well as the prime ministers of Kyrgyzstan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Mongolia, all advocated for the expansion of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
Although several world leaders have previously urged the Taliban to establish a more inclusive government, the Taliban continue to claim that their administration, primarily composed of ethnic Pashtuns with a nominal inclusion of Tajik and Uzbek militias, is both national and representative. This narrow interpretation of inclusivity, however, has hindered the Taliban from gaining recognition neither within Afghanistan nor from the international and regional communities over the past three years.
This enduring lack of legitimacy underscores the broader challenge the Taliban face in achieving acceptance both domestically and globally.
