Uzbekistan under the current situation is not ready to recognize the Taliban’s government independently, the country’s special envoy to Kabul said and added that the regime is unlikely to get international recognition anytime soon.

"We will not recognize them alone. When it happens, we want a collective voice and stand," Ismatulla Irgashev, the Uzbek president's special representative for Afghanistan, said in an interview to Voice of America (VOA).

Barring Tajikistan, Uzbekistan along with other Afghanistan's neighbors decided to maintain their diplomatic presence in Kabul after the last year's regime change. However, despite seeking closer engagement with Kabul, the country hasn’t recognized the ultra-conservative hardline regime.

"The Taliban don't want to be isolated," he said, "They want international recognition." Tashkent, he said, is committed to moving ahead with formal recognition only in concert with the international community.

Central Asian countries remain concerned over growing militant violence in the country and its possible spillover into their respective territories. Last year in August thousands of soldiers and airforce personnel of the erstwhile Afghan government fled to Uzbekistan.

While the country adopted closer engagement with the Taliban, Tashkent refused the group’s request for the return of Afghan airforce helicopters and pilots.

“The Taliban have been a part of the Afghan people since the takeover and must respect religious freedom and equality, and it is clear that this freedom has grown equally in Uzbekistan and other countries over the past 30 years,” the Uzbek envoy said.

The Taliban’s refusal to the formation of an interim Afghan government and commitment to the protection of human rights remain the key reasons behind its failure to get international recognition.

(SAM)