ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office Saturday said the appointment of diplomatic staff in Pakistan made by the interim government of Taliban is aimed at facilitating millions of Afghan refugees in the country and to address the visa issues.

The interim government of the Taliban made some appointments earlier last week, including appointing Sardar Muhammad Shokaib, aka Mosa Farhad, as the first secretary in the Afghan Embassy in Islamabad who would work as the de facto “chargé d’affaires” in the absence of a permanent Afghan ambassador.

The former Ashraf Ghani’s government had recalled the ex-ambassador, Najibullah Alikhel in protest against the alleged abduction of the daughter of the former envoy in Islamabad in July this year and since then there has been no Afghan ambassador in Pakistan following the Taliban take-over of Kabul.

Afghan Taliban appoint new envoy to run embassy in Pakistan

Although, no country including Pakistan has so far recognised the interim set up in Kabul announced by the Taliban last month, diplomatic sources maintained that allowing the Taliban appointed staff at the embassy in Islamabad and Afghan consulates in Peshawar, Quetta, and Karachi does mean recognition of the Taliban government.

According to Foreign Office spokesperson Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, the appointment is an administrative matter and is meant to enable the Embassy to perform its functions, primarily the consular functions to facilitate millions of Afghan refugees in Pakistan and the visa issues as well.

“So this has to be seen in that context. I understand they have made similar appointments in their embassies in some other countries,” the spokesperson added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021