Tajik veteran politician considers that Tajik authorities should establish contacts with the Taliban

“The establishment of contacts with the Taliban is not a matter of official recognition of the Taliban group, the backbone of the armed formations of which are representatives of all 46 Pushtun tribes of Afghanistan,” Mr. Shabdolov told Asia-Plus in an interview.  

Remembering the years of his work in Kabul as an adviser to the Central Committee of the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan in the mid-1980s, Tajik veteran politician noted that “the Holy Qur’an and the code of honor are considered sacred to the Pushtuns.” 

“In the course of contacts with the Taliban (the Pushtuns), it is necessary to take this into account,” Shabdolov noted.  

He further said that “due to the current situation in the neighboring country, the Tajik authorities need to establish contacts not only with the Taliban but will all political forces existing in today’s Afghanistan.” 

Predicting the future situation after the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan, the politician noted that Russia and China would not allow the escalation of the situation in Tajikistan.