Stage is set for the Taliban 2.0 to announce the new government of Islamic Emirates of Afghanistan on Friday (September 3, 2021). According to reports Taliban chief Hibatullah Akhundzada who is in Kandahar is expected to be in Kabul on Friday (a day which is considered to be a holy day) and announce the formation of the new Cabinet.
The Taliban has been sending messages to the world that the government which will be formed soon is expected to be “inclusive”, give women freedom as acceptable under the Islamic laws and respect human rights.
The formation of a new government will be in the midst of an acute economic crisis, and it will have to depend on international aid —whether it is funds or food. There will be an acute shortage of cash as the Taliban is not expected to get access to almost USD 10 billion in assets held overseas by the Afghan Central Bank.
The structure of government under Taliban
It will be led by Taliban’s supreme leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada, who is expected to have ultimate power over a new governing council and one of his with one of his deputies, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who will be in-charge of day to day running of the Taliban government in Afghanistan.
Mullah Baradar has been seen in public as he has been associated with the peace negotiations in Doha, Qatar. On the other hand Hibatullah Akhundzada has been away from the public eye in an effort to model himself on the lines of the Taliban founder Mullah Omar.
Other key positions in the Taliban government
Another influential operations leader Sirajuddin Haqqani, and Mawlawi Mohammad Yaqoob, son of the Taliban movement’s founder, Mullah Mohammad Omar is expected to be part of the government.
India and Taliban Talk
Earlier this week the Taliban reached out to Indian ambassador in Qatar Deepak Mittal for talks. And in a 45 minute conversation tried to convince India not to remove its diplomats from Kabul and assured full security to the Embassy and diplomats of India. He also talked about building economic, commercial, political and cultural relations.
Responding to media queries, in a weekly briefing on Thursday (September 2, 2021), the official spokesperson of MEA, Arindam Bagchi said, “Our focus is that Afghan soil should not be used for any terrorist activities against India.”
Airport to be reopened
The head of Afghanistan’s Civil Aviation Authority has reportedly said that he is ready to sign a contract with Qatar to handle the technical aspects of Kabul airport.
Though the main airport in Kabul is still closed, the Taliban has promised safe passage out of the country for the foreigners left behind or the Afghans who want to leave.
Reports quoting Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani of Qatar has said that his country is in talks with the Taliban and in contact with Turkey about giving technical support to re-start the Kabul airport as that will help in getting the humanitarian assistance faster. It will also help in speedy evacuation operations.
