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Tajikistan not convinced of Taliban's efforts to combat drug trade — Russian envoy

"Our Tajik partners are very critical of Afghanistan - this is the Tajik leadership’s course - and they believe that there is nothing to praise the Taliban authorities for," Zamir Kabulov added

MOSCOW, October 4. /TASS/. Participants of the Moscow format consultations on Afghanistan praised the current Afghan leadership for its efforts to combat drug-related crime and terrorism, but Tajikistan did not note the Taliban (outlawed in Russia) government’s success in this area, Russian Special Presidential Envoy on Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov said during a briefing.

"Most participants welcomed the Taliban’s efforts to combat ISIS [outlawed in Russia - TASS] in Afghanistan, and we encouraged Afghan authorities to continue this business, because it meets the security interests of all neighbors. We praised the Afghan authorities in their struggle to fight against the Afghan drug industry. […] Our Tajik partners are very critical of Afghanistan - this is the Tajik leadership’s course - and they believe that there is nothing to praise the Taliban authorities for," the diplomat said.

Kabulov noted that "nine out of the ten delegations at the Moscow format [meeting] disagreed with that."

"But we treated the national position of our partner with respect and agreed to their proposal not to include them on the list of those who adopted the Kazan declaration," he added.

The Moscow format was established in 2017, based on a six-party mechanism for consultations between special representatives of Russia, Afghanistan, India, Iran, China and Pakistan. The first meeting took place on April 14, 2017, with participation of Ministers and special representatives of 11 countries, including the Afghan side. The format’s main goal is to promote the process of national settlement in Afghanistan and to achieve peace in this country. On September 29, the fifth meeting of this format took place in Kazan, with a joint declaration adopted afterwards.

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Foreign policy Afghanistan Tajikistan

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