Afghan FM’s Pak go to blocked by US over UN journey ban waiver: Studies

According to Dawn, Muttaqi was scheduled to go to Pakistan on August 4 as a part of a current push to enhance relations between Kabul and Islamabad. The engagement adopted Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar’s earlier go to to Kabul, which had been facilitated by China.

Citing diplomatic sources, Dawn mentioned that because the Afghan international minister is underneath worldwide sanctions, he’s barred from international journey with no particular waiver from the UN sanctions committee. The committee, arrange underneath UNSC Resolution 1988 (2011), oversees journey bans, asset freezes, and arms embargoes on Taliban-linked figures.

The Dawn report said that Washington delayed its choice till the final second earlier than in the end refusing to grant the waiver, successfully scuttling the journey.

Dawn famous that the US choice is believed to have been influenced by issues over the Taliban authorities’s rising closeness with China.

When requested at a current briefing whether or not the US had blocked Muttaqi’s journey, the State Department mentioned, “We do not comment on rumours,” Dawn reported.

Pakistan’s Foreign Office, nevertheless, didn’t straight verify the US position. At a weekly media briefing, Foreign Office spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan instructed reporters there have been “certain procedural issues” being labored out and maintained that no official dates had been confirmed for Muttaqi’s go to. As quoted by Dawn, he added, “Once these procedural matters are resolved, we look forward to welcoming the Afghan foreign minister to Pakistan.”

The Dawn report additionally highlighted that the US has usually clashed with China and Russia within the UNSC sanctions committee, with Beijing and Moscow supporting extra lenient journey exemptions for Taliban officers.