Talking to Islamic Emirate ‘right thing to do’: Kai Eide

KABUL (Tolo News): The former UN special envoy to Afghanistan, Kai Eide, said that dialogue is a “positive thing” and should be continued with the Islamic Emirate. In an interview with TOLOnews, Eide said that the humanitarian crisis is very concerning and the international community should increase its engagement with Islamic Emirate.
“I think there is not an alternative to talking, you know, all through the years, every time there has been a new phase, there has been criticism of talking to the Taliban. I always thought it is the right thing to do. The alternative is that the situation becomes even worse today and I do not think that it is in anybody’s interest… My view has always been that dialogue is a positive thing and it should be continued where it is possible,” Eide told TOLOnews. “I think there are significant resources coming in, but it is very insufficient and the international community should engage much more strongly, in particular when it comes to the humanitarian crisis. Over the last few days, the head of the Norwegian Refugee Council, the secretary-general of the UN has called for much more vigorous resources to be brought into Afghanistan, I think there is no time to lose and we cannot wait any longer and see more people dying, more people being at the risk of dying. That is totally unacceptable. We have been with the Afghan people for decades and we cannot let the Afghan people be doomed to death,” said Kai Eide.
The former envoy said the Islamic Emirate should include people who are not from the Taliban movement into the government, in order to see a a more inclusive government than the current government. “There should be a government that includes people who (do) not belong to the Taliban movement. I think it is very important that other persons be brought in; if it is done via this mechanism or that mechanism, is not important, but you need a government seen to be more inclusive than the current government,” said Kai Eide.
Meanwhile, the Islamic Emirate’s officials said the government is going to add more qualified figures to the government ranks. “The Islamic Emirate has attempted to recruit some deserving people to the government, particularly in technical sections, and it will follow through on its pledge to recruit more faces in high positions,” said Inamullah Samangani, deputy spokesman of the Islamic Emirate.
Recently, Afghanistan’s situation was the topic of a summit hosted by the Norwegian government in Oslo, a special meeting held by the UN security council, and a virtual meeting hosted by India’s Modi and the heads of 5 Central Asian states. In all of these meetings, the formation of an inclusive government in Afghanistan was discussed.