Beijing/Moscow, Mar 31 (PTI) Russia's foreign ministry has accredited the first diplomat sent to Moscow by Afghanistan's Taliban government, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday, as he appealed to the international community to "actively cooperate" with the new government in Kabul.

Since it seized Kabul in mid-August, the Taliban has been desperately trying to have its Islamic Emirate recognised internationally as the official government of Afghanistan. The government run by hardline Islamists in Kabul has not been officially recognised by any of the world's nations.

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"I would like to note that the first Afghan diplomat, who arrived in Moscow last month, has been accredited by the Russian foreign ministry,” Russia's state-run TASS news agency quoted Lavrov as telling his counterparts from China, Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

Addressing third ministerial conference of Afghanistan's neighbouring countries in the east Chinese city of Tunxi, the top Russian diplomat noted that the new government in Kabul was making efforts to expand economic and diplomatic ties.

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"Officials of the Taliban government regularly meet with foreign partners in bilateral and multilateral formats, as it was in Moscow, Tehran, Doha, Oslo, and Antalya. Today, this list has been supplemented by the city of Tunxi,” Lavrov said.

He said that Russia has observed gradual improvement in Afghanistan's economic cooperation with other countries of the region, which demonstrate interests to that country.

"Naturally, these contacts promote international recognition of Afghanistan's new authorities," Lavrov said.

He said the international community should actively cooperate with the new government of Afghanistan, encouraging moves towards its recognition by all UN members.

The Russian Foreign Minister said this at a meeting with his Afghan counterpart Amir Khan Muttaqi, who was appointed by the Taliban.

"We are convinced that the international community should actively cooperate with Afghanistan's new government, encouraging steps aimed at its official recognition by the UN and all its participants," Lavrov noted.

He added that in this sense, inclusion should be a key element in Afghanistan's government, not only at the ethno-confessional level, but also in the involvement of other political forces. Lavrov also highlighted the priority of the humanitarian component, the official TASS news agency reported. Lavrov said it is a task for the international community to help Afghanistan resolve humanitarian problems and revive its economy.

"The key task of the international community is to help Afghanistan first of all to resolve humanitarian problems and then revive the economy. The key message to the international community is that it must be much more proactive,” he stressed.

Lavrov also said that Western countries are responsible for the current deplorable situation in Afghanistan's economy and should sponsor its recovery.

"After NATO's 20-year military presence accompanied by the abortive experiment on imposing alien recipes and values, the collective West is directly responsible for today's humanitarian situation and the deplorable state of the Afghan economy,” he said at the third ministerial conference of Afghanistan's neighboring countries.

"Hence, it must undertake the financial burden for crisis overcoming and stabilizing the situation," he said.

Lavrov also said that Russia objects against possible deployment of the United States' and NATO's military infrastructure in Central Asian countries bordering Afghanistan.

"We think that the deployment of any US and NATO military infrastructure and Afghanistan serving then on the territories of neighbouring countries, first of all in Central Asia,” he said.

"Such plans run counter to the interests of our countries and liabilities under the documents of the Collective Security Treaty Organization,” the Russian foreign minister added. PTI

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)