According to the delegation, the Taliban is seeking “dignified” global interactions when building “strong” and “developed” Afghanistan.
According to East Asian countries’ media, the Taliban delegation, the first visit by the Afghanistan-controlled group, has arrived in Japan.
A delegation consisting of diplomacy, education, economics and health authorities arrived for a week’s visit on Sunday, the Asano Shinbun newspaper reported. The visit is unusual for the Taliban, and its diplomatic trip had previously approached Afghanistan since it regained power in 2021.
Taliban representatives are expected to seek humanitarian support and potentially discuss diplomatic relations with Japanese officials.
Latif Nazari, deputy minister of the Taliban Ministry of Economy, described the visit as part of the group’s efforts to become “active members of the international community.”
“We seek dignified interaction with the world in order to be strong, united, highly thriving, thriving, developing Afghanistan and becoming an active member of the international community,” the delegation said. Part of Nazari wrote in her post on Saturday’s X.
Citing Afghanistan’s diplomatic sources, Japanese public broadcaster NHK said Taliban representatives are planning to “exchange opinions with Japanese government officials.”
Unusual travel outside the area
The Taliban government regularly visits neighbouring and regional countries, including Central Asia, Russia and China, but rarely moves outside the region. He officially visited Europe in 2022 and 2023 for diplomatic summits in Norway.
The Japanese Embassy in Kabul has temporarily moved to Qatar after the previous collapse of foreign governments and the 2021 Taliban acquisition.
The Taliban’s visit to Japan is the latest in a series of attacks by the group a few days after ISIL (ISIS) argued responsibility for a deadly suicide bombing outside Kabul’s Ministry of Urban Development and Housing.
The Japanese Embassy condemned the attack, posting on X on Sunday, “These horror attacks must be done immediately.”
We condemned the violent terrorist attacks on the virtual province of urban development and housing in Kabul on February 13th, resulting in multiple people being killed and wounded.
We express our sadness to the families of the victims and those affected.– Japanese Embassy in Afghanistan (@japaninafg) February 16, 2025
