Putrajaya right to be non-committal on ties with Afghanistan, says analyst

 

Malaysia can still provide aid to the Taliban-run Afghan government even though it does not have diplomatic ties with Kabul, says analyst Azmi Hassan. (AP pic)

PETALING JAYA: An analyst says Putrajaya is correct to take a non-committal approach on establishing diplomatic ties with Afghanistan, adding that it is not the right time to do so.

Azmi Hassan of Akademi Nusantara said this is because there were doubts over the Taliban administration’s commitment to human rights and civil liberties.

“Even Pakistan, Afghanistan’s closest neighbour, has doubts regarding their (Taliban) promises of allowing more freedoms and respecting human rights,” he told FMT.

This comes after foreign minister Saifuddin Abdullah downplayed a meeting between Middle East special envoy Abdul Hadi Awang and Afghanistan’s United Nations ambassador Suhail Shaheen.

Azmi Hassan.

Saifuddin had said this did not mean Malaysia recognises the country’s interim government.

According to reports from Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, Afghan authorities have carried out revenge killings against former officials, security force personnel and citizens accused of aiding the US in the 20-year war in the country.

The Taliban have also increasingly restricted the rights of women and girls, including sacking all women in civil service leadership positions, prohibiting girls from attending school beyond grade six, and barring women from travelling in public without a male chaperone.

Azmi said if Putrajaya established diplomatic ties with Kabul, it could result in Malaysia being seen as “legitimising” the Taliban.

This, he said, could see Malaysia being regarded as an outcast in the international community.

But, he said there was nothing wrong with Malaysia providing aid to the Afghans as this did not require the establishment of diplomatic ties.

“We don’t need to establish ties with the government to provide aid. Instead, we can go through NGOs who are already well established in the region,” he said. - FMT