The Taliban sees regional meetings as a tool when the region is naively optimistic.
Author: Abdul Naser Noorzad, security and geopolitics researcher, especially for Sangar
The Moscow Format began on Friday with the participation of ten countries. Guests from the Taliban were also invited to the meeting. The Moscow Format is one of the regional diplomatic initiatives led by Moscow. Last year's Moscow meeting ended with a series of commitments to the Taliban - to respect human rights, form an inclusive government, and take responsibility for regional security.
Except for the sidelines of this series of meetings, which are essentially regional responses to trans-regional movements, the Moscow Format has not had a reciprocal and real impact on changing the situation in Afghanistan, which is under Taliban control. In other words, the meeting benefited more from propaganda and media. Still, it failed to become part of the peaceful transformation process in Afghanistan in the post-US phase and become a source of inspiration for solving the existing problems.
So far, the Taliban, which has close ties with Russia and several countries in Central Asia and the region, has not paid attention to the agreements reached at the summit. The Taliban's indifference to the demands of the region, which is more concerned about the continuation of the current situation, shows that the group is still unwilling to engage so that Afghanistan under their control enters into positive regional interaction and becomes part of the transition to an acceptable system.
Instead, the Taliban is trying to use such meetings, to score points and find a way to stay in power by consulting with their allies since came to power. Thus, it can be said that the Taliban sees these meetings as a tool, but the region sees them as political, economic, and security consensus.
Although the Russian Foreign Ministry stated that the main goal of the Moscow Format summit is to strengthen the “national reconciliation process” and “expand the interaction of the countries of the region with the Taliban” - the main priorities of the sixth Moscow Format summit, the Taliban does not see the need for national reconciliation and does not accept it, and does not interpret the expansion of interaction between the countries of the region in the direction of the main needs of the region - ensuring peace and political stability in Afghanistan and providing guarantees for the fight against terrorism.
Within the framework of the Moscow Format led by Russia, the region expects that the countries of the region will expand their interaction with the Taliban in the field of politics, economics, and the fight against terrorism and drugs, but, as mentioned earlier, the Taliban are not political reformers. They are not familiar with the principles of governance to improve the economic situation and create an active economic corridor in the region. They consider the fight against drugs impossible and do not want to do this because of its countless revenues.
This group, as in the previous period of its rule and twenty-year war against the Republican government and foreign forces, has chosen the cultivation, production, and trade of drugs as one of its main sources of income, and because of its huge profits, they are not ready to fight this practically and honestly.
Therefore, all the issues raised at this meeting will remain only on the agenda and on paper. While the urgent needs of the Afghan people to ensure justice, political stability, the creation of an accountable political system and a responsible and active element in regional and global interaction, the fight against extremism, ensuring the rights of women and minorities, fighting poverty and creating jobs and bringing Afghanistan out of the current situation are another matter.
There were no practical and pragmatic actions at this meeting to put pressure on the Taliban and help all politically responsible forces improve the situation in Afghanistan. It was enough to involve the Taliban in the meeting.
Although concerns about security and counter-terrorism issues remain widespread among countries in the region, the scale of these threats cannot be addressed by measures and proposals alone, as the Moscow format is one of the regional diplomatic initiatives led by Moscow. However, as security threats level, political and economic challenges, and increasing of security gaps, diplomatic initiatives alone cannot guarantee solving the existing problems.
