ISTANBUL / KARACHI

The interim Taliban administration on Wednesday urged the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) to invite Afghanistan representatives to its future meetings.

The Taliban's demand came after the SCO held its 23rd summit of heads of its member states, virtually hosted by India on Tuesday.

Suhail Shaheen, the Qatar-based Taliban representative, told Anadolu that the interim administration in Kabul should be invited to SCO meetings.

“These issues concern us,” Shaheen said.

He was responding to the joint SCO statement as well as remarks made by the SCO member states regarding Afghanistan.

Afghanistan was widely discussed during the summit, which promised continued efforts to assist the Afghan people in view of the evolving humanitarian situation in the war-torn nation.

The SCO members said they consider it “essential to establish an inclusive government” in Afghanistan with the participation of representatives of all ethnic, religious, and political groups in Afghan society.

“One of the most important factors of preservation and strengthening of safety and stability within SCO region is the early settlement of the situation in Afghanistan,” said the SCO joint statement, advocating "building Afghanistan as an independent, neutral, united, democratic and peaceful state, free from terrorism, war, and drugs."

“We should be invited (to explain these issues). When someone explains them, it will not solve the issues, (but) will only complicate the issues,” Shaheen, who was nominated by the Taliban to represent Afghanistan at the UN, told Anadolu over the phone.

At the Tuesday summit, Iran joined China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, India, and Uzbekistan as full members while Belarus and Mongolia were invited as observer states by New Delhi.

Kabul-based interim Afghan administration was not invited to the Tuesday summit, Shaheen said.

Since their return to power in August 2021, the Taliban are yet to gain international recognition.

Afghanistan has already an observer status at the SCO which was founded in 2001.

‘Legitimate right’

In a separate statement, Afghanistan's interim Foreign Ministry welcomed the SCO statement, however, it insisted that Kabul should be invited to the organization's next meeting in Kazakhstan.

The ministry said participation in the summit as an observer is Kabul’s "legitimate" right.

Afghanistan considers its absence from the forum, the statement said, as an “obstacle” to harmony, security, the fight against drugs, delivery of humanitarian aid, and economic integration of the region.

“There are representatives of every language, race, and orientation in the Islamic Emirate, and the concerns of the member countries can be resolved with an understanding of the real facts,” the statement added.