The Taliban Government and their Quest for International Recognition.

In Blog, Human Security
November 5, 2021
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States are recognized under international law when it is accepted that they have sovereignty and rights and duties under international law. The sovereignty of a state is determined by the regime that controls the state. This regime has to comply with the standards of international law. To successfully pass through this process of state recognition

States are recognized under international law when it is accepted that they have sovereignty and rights and duties under international law. The sovereignty of a state is determined by the regime that controls the state. This regime has to comply with the standards of international law. To successfully pass through this process of state recognition the nation has to definitely show a compliance with the relevant rules of international law as set by the international law bodies (UN and ICJ). Secondly as per the Montevideo Convention the state must have the capacity to enter into relations with other states.

This ‘capacity’ may denote either a financial or a social notion. Financially it must be capable to run its affairs such that it is able to survive as a state in the global market where it balances out its exports and imports rationally. Similarly the more independent/permanent a state the higher the chances that it will be recognized by the international community. This is clearly because such a state is more economically and socially stable and can project itself as one of the solid units of the entire international community.

Recognising another state (under international law) by a state is purely intentional. No State is bound under international law to recognise the statehood claims of another state. For example, India has not as yet recognised Kashmir as an independent state. Israel refuses to recognise Palestine; the China-Taiwan conflict and Afghanistan under its recent Taliban government is also not recognised as a state under the international law. This is because member states under international law and UN which is a prime international body has refused to recognise the recent Taliban-led government of Afghanistan.

After the recent 15^th August capture of Kabul by the Taliban, the United Nations refused to have a Taliban chosen envoy address the General Assembly on behalf of Afghanistan. Further although Moscow and Ankara hosted this recent Taliban government for several peace talks, they too refuse to recognise the Taliban’s governance of Afghanistan. Italy and France have pledged not to have any diplomatic ties with Afghanistan.

On October 2021, in an interview with the French radio, the French President Mr Emmanuel Macron said that the entire G20 must keep in mind that the Taliban should meet certain conditions before they will be recognized by the international community.

Now the question arises as to what exactly these conditions are that the French President talks about. The answer can be analysed from the reasons different international states give before they turn their heads away from the Taliban. And once these reasons are analysed the position of Afghanistan as an international state or not will become clearer as these states such as Russia,US,China,Pakistan,India etc are all entities of the international community and governed under the international law.

Russia for example has declared that it will only recognise Afghanistan as an international state once it forms a more inclusive government. First and foremost an inclusive government is the one with a proportional male and female presence in the administration. Taliban are clearly against any women representation in the government offices as one of the reforms by them after taking control from the ex-president Ghani’s government is the dissolving of the ‘Women’s Ministry’ in Afghanistan that has specifically worked on women affairs.

The Taliban on the other hand are pushing for state recognition. This can be seen from their nomination of Suhail Shaheen as their ambassador to the United Nations and their invitation to foreign embassies of the US and European States to return to Kabul. Other instances of the Taliban welcoming foreign aid like the one recently offered by Beijing are also important to highlight in this regard. But quite unsurprisingly Beijing too has yet not accepted the Taliban government.

For Afghanistan to be recognised as an international state the Taliban have to comply with certain promises that it holds to each member state of the international community. It is only then that particular state will recognise it and slowly Afghanistan will be recognised by more and more states until it attains the status of a state governed by the international law. Some of these promises include equality for all and non discrimination against any sect, gender or caste by the new Taliban government. Another step the Taliban have to take so they are recognised as the new government of Afghanistan is a compliance with specific conditions set by states. For example, the Taliban have named Afghanistan as an ‘Islamic Emirate’. In a joint diplomatic statement, the states of Pakistan, US, Russia and China have shown a disagreement over this name as it gives reminders of the 1990s Taliban regime that was accompanied with terrorism; a global concern and a concern specific to these aforementioned countries.

The Taliban have as yet made no attempts to address this joint diplomatic statement. Infact, the Taliban government is composed of some internationally sanctioned figures. So, at one hand the Taliban want an international recognition with them forming the new government in place in Afghanistan. They also want Afghanistan to be treated as an international state that has a voice in the international community, holds diplomatic relations with other counties and in these post war times receives aid too from other states. At the other extreme lies the fact that there are many promises that the international community wants Afghanistan to comply with in return for state recognition and that the Taliban do at instances show a reluctance to comply with them.

So, whether the Afghanistan post August 2021 will be recognised as an international state depends on the fulfilment of the conditions set forth by the international community for the Taliban. The notion that the Taliban want to govern Afghanistan at their terms only is to some extent fatal to their desire to be acknowledged by the other nation states.