US and Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) officials have exchanged proposals for the release of billions of dollars from Afghan central bank reserves held abroad into a trust fund, three sources familiar with the talks told Reuters. Significant differences between the sides remain, however, according to two of the sources, including the IEA’s refusal to replace the bank’s top political […]

Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Hissein Brahim Taha said on Tuesday there was a pressing need for a “well-coordinated and strategically integrated approach to the wide range of challenges facing Afghanistan and its people”. In a statement to delegates at the Tashkent International Conference on Afghanistan: Security and Economic Development, which was read out by IOC […]

Afghanistan’s Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs said in Tashkent on Tuesday that the Islamic Emirate will not allow the security of neighboring countries and the region to be threatened from Afghanistan’s territory. Amir Khan Muttaqi outlined the achievements of the IEA in the past eleven months and called for positive political interaction with countries in the region and around the […]

Global Kairos Asia Pacific Palestine Solidarity (GKAPPS) is a group of Asian Christian Theologians from 21 countries working in alliance with all religious communities and civil society movements in the Asia-Pacific region and around the Globe to act decisively to address the brutal and horrific situations of the continuing Nakba that the Palestinians have been facing for more than seven […]

China’s Foreign Ministry has warned the U.S. of “serious consequences” should U.S. House of Representative Speaker Nancy Pelosi visits Taiwan in a demonstration of developing ties between Washington and the autonomous island that Beijing sees as inalienable part of China’s territory.

A year after the US withdrawal from their homeland, around 1.5 million Afghan refugees still prefer to stay in Pakistan. Released on Monday, a UN report said Pakistan remained the largest refugee-hosting country in Asia and the Pacific. Last year, the number of refugees in the Asia-Pacific region rose by 138,400 to 4.2 million, or 19 per cent of the […]

A delegation of Pakistani religious scholars is in Kabul for talks with senior leaders of the interim Afghan government. Headed by Mufti Taqi Usman, the eight-member team will urge Kabul to help persuade Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) leaders to further extend their ceasefire with Islamabad. Following their arrival in Kabul, the ulema were received by Taliban officials and Pakistan’s Ambassador to […]

The foreign minister of Uzbekistan on Tuesday called for the release of Afghanistan’s frozen foreign reserves. Unblocking the assets would spur the economic recovery process in Afghanistan, Vladimir Norov told an international conference in Tashkent. An independent Russian news agency quoted him as saying that freeing up the reserves would also help address acute social issues the Afghans were currently […]

U.S. and Taliban officials have exchanged proposals for the release of billions of dollars from Afghan central bank reserves held abroad into a trust fund, three sources familiar with the talks said, offering a hint of progress in efforts to ease Afghanistan’s economic crisis.

Ten months have passed since the Taliban takeover took place, and the situation in Afghanistan remains highly volatile and uncertain after the fall of the previous US-backed democratic government. Apart from core fundamental issues, the Taliban seems to be different in their approach to the Afghans and to the world community compared to their previous tenure in Afghanistan. Different regional […]