A rare diplomatic visit outside the region sees an Afghan Taliban delegation in Japan

 For the first time, a delegation from the Taliban government is visiting Japan, marking a rare diplomatic trip outside of their usual region. The Afghan team, which includes officials from ministries like higher education, foreign affairs, and the economy, left Kabul on Saturday for what is expected to be a week-long visit.

Latif Nazari, a deputy minister at the Ministry of Economy and a member of the delegation, expressed their hopes on Twitter, saying, “We seek dignified interaction with the world for a strong, united, advanced, prosperous, developed Afghanistan, and to be an active member of the international community.”

While the Taliban regularly engages with neighboring and regional countries such as those in Central Asia, Russia, and China, their interactions with Europe have been limited to diplomatic summits in Norway in 2022 and 2023.

Since the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in 2021, Japan’s embassy in Kabul was temporarily relocated to Qatar, but it has since resumed diplomatic and humanitarian work in Afghanistan. The Afghan delegation’s visit to Japan is seen as an opportunity for them to engage in dialogue and exchange views with Japanese government officials,