International recognition of the Taliban government was not currently under consideration, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, adding his country's approach is in line with those of Pakistan, US, and China to see if the group forms a truly inclusive government as it had promised earlier. Lavrov, who was speaking on the sidelines of the annual gathering of world leaders in New York for the UN General Assembly, ruled out the possibility of granting the group legitimacy for now. 

"The question of international recognition of the Taliban at the present juncture is not on the table," Lavrov was quoted as saying by Reuters. Moscow is a member of the nine-member UN credential committee that looks after competing claims of representation.

The committee will take a look at the Taliban’s claim later this year. Earlier this week, the Taliban had nominated Suhail Shaheen as its UN envoy for the country and asked the UN to allow him to represent the country. 

Ghulam Isaczai, the ambassador to the UN representing the erstwhile Afghan government, has also been asked to renew his UN accreditation despite the Taliban regime in Kabul de-recognizing him. 

Pakistan appears to be the only country pushing the world to recognize the Taliban, and asked the international community to adopt an “incentive-based approach” to deal with the group. It has asked the world not to isolate the Taliban regime, arguing it would have consequences and the approach hadn’t worked well in the past also. 

Kremlin Spokesperson Dimitry Peskov on Friday said, “we prefer to most closely watch what the Taliban have been doing in Afghanistan, what final shape the structure of power in that country will take, and how the given promises will be fulfilled. We are monitoring this very closely."

The Taliban, on the other hand, has a different point of the view and considers it is the responsibility of the international community to grant them legitimacy. Zabiullah Mujahid, the group’s spokesperson, and deputy information and culture minister in the interim government, said that the world should first recognize them and then convey their concerns about rights and other issues of the country. 

(SAM)