Diplomats reported that a committee of the United Nations Security Council approved on Monday the permission for acting Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi to travel next week from Afghanistan to Pakistan to meet with the foreign ministers of Pakistan and China. Muttaqi has long been subject to a travel ban and asset freeze under sanctions imposed by the Security Council.
According to a message sent to the Security Council's Taliban sanctions committee, the Pakistani mission to the UN requested an exemption that allows Muttaqi to travel from May 6 to May 9 for "participation in a meeting with the foreign ministers of Pakistan and China." The message did not specify what the ministers would discuss but noted that "Pakistan will bear all costs associated with Muttaqi's trip."
Chinese and Pakistani officials have previously stated that they would welcome an Afghanistan governed by the Taliban into the multibillion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor infrastructure project, which is part of the Belt and Road Initiative.
