Afghan Taliban’s Urdu-Language Website Publishes Article Supporting Russian-Afghan Deal For Oil, Gas, And Wheat: ‘Governments Can Run Without Recognition’ By The UN

During the last week of September 2022, it emerged that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA, i.e., the Afghan Taliban) and Russia have signed a provisional agreement to import oil, gas, and wheat from Russia. Following this announcement, the Urdu-language website of the Islamic Emirate published an article defending the Russian-Afghan deal even though the Taliban government is yet to be recognized by the UN or any country.[1]

“Governments can run without recognition. In spite of the difficulties, they can run smoothly. But in such a critical situation, there is a need for mature vision, extraordinary honesty, and sincerity with the nation and its resources,” argues the article titled “The Russia-Afghan Pact: The Islamic Emirate’s First Big Economic Agreement.”

Following is the text of the article:

“When Other Countries Do Not Recognize The Government, It May Cause Internal And External Problems For The Government, But These Problems Are Not Permanent”

“Ever since the establishment of the Islamic Emirate government in Afghanistan [in 2021], the question of non-recognition of the new government is the most prominent among the questions that are frequently asked on different occasions. If any journalist or analyst wants to talk about this issue, he starts and ends with this problem. The problem is presented as if it is not possible to remain alive without the recognition of the government [by the international community] – which is not the case at all.

“It is a fact that in the modern world, governments move forward only by establishing relations with foreign countries, and obviously, in order to have open relations, it is necessary to recognize the government. When other countries do not recognize the government, it may cause internal and external problems for the government, but these problems are not permanent, and the severity of the problems is not as described.

“Governments can run without recognition. In spite of difficulties, they can run smoothly. But in such a critical situation, there is a need for mature vision, extraordinary honesty, and sincerity with the nation and its resources. In such a situation, when the new Afghan government has not been recognized by any foreign country, during the last year many such achievements of the current government can be counted.

“In the present article, looking at these achievements, the new agreement between the Afghan government and Russia, and the resulting economic benefits to both countries, and the reduction of American pressure are mentioned. According to the statement issued by the Islamic Emirate’s Office of the Spokesperson, and later, in an interview given to BBC Pashtu by the Minister of Trade and Industry Nooruddin Azizi, the purpose of the said agreement is to control the rising prices of food items in the country and to boost the country’s economy. Further stabilization [of the Afghan economy] is necessary.

“As a result of this agreement, Russia will provide Afghanistan with one million tons of diesel, one million tons of gasoline, five million tons of LPG, and two million tons of wheat annually. The commerce minister said that this trade process will be reviewed every three months, and if it is found useful for both countries, it will be expanded to other food items as well. This is the largest and most extraordinary deal with a foreign country in the last year [since the Taliban seized power in August 2021].

“The agreement is also between countries [Russia and Afghanistan] that are under the control [pressure] of the United States. Economic sanctions are imposed on both countries. When foreign powers impose economic sanctions on a country, they aim to affect the country’s economy and prevent it from possible aggression. Since Russia invaded Ukraine, the EU has imposed various economic sanctions to prevent it from invading Ukraine.”

“The European Union has removed Russia from SWIFT, the system for transferring funds to Russian banks. Through this system, it was easy to transfer funds from abroad to Russian banks and to pay the sums owed by Russia abroad; the European Union has made it difficult by removing Russia from this system. Due to being removed from this system, Russia is facing difficulties in supplying oil and gas to foreign countries. But Russia has made up for this deficiency by using a similar Chinese system as an alternative.

“The European Union also froze Russian assets in European banks, which caused the value of the Russian currency rouble to drop. Britain banned its citizens from dealing with Russian banks, but these restrictions are not affecting Russia alone. Rather, those European countries that depend on Russian oil are also suffering. According to Russian data, Russia currently supplies 26 percent of Europe’s total oil needs and 38 percent of its gas needs. In this sense, due to sanctions on Russia, Europe itself is suffering a lot.

“Apart from Russia, Afghanistan is the second country on which the United States has imposed economic sanctions, and Afghan banks suffered the most from these sanctions. Large amounts of money cannot be kept or transferred to them. Apart from this, seven billion dollars of Afghan assets have been frozen. The loss of which is affecting directly the Afghan people. The United Nations, China, Russia, and other countries have demanded the removal of economic sanctions by the United States many times.

“Despite all these restrictions and challenges, the new Afghan government has managed to keep the value of the Afghani stable against the U.S. dollar over the past year. In such a critical situation, the agreement between Afghanistan and Russia to buy oil, gas, and wheat is a positive development. This agreement is not only good for the economies of both countries, but it is also the beginning of breaking the spell of economic fear of America in the region.

“In the last two decades, the U.S. had been controlling the politics of South Asia from Afghanistan. But today, not only does America have no place to stand in Afghanistan, but rather in opposition to American interests, Afghanistan is going to sign an agreement with Russia, the worst critic of America. This will be the first step toward the improvement of Afghanistan’s economy, Allah willing.”