Afghanistan's Taliban government expresses interest in BRICS membership

KABUL:

Afghanistan’s Taliban government is keen to join the BRICS economic forum, a spokesman said on Tuesday ahead of the group’s summit in Russia.

The summit of emerging economies that includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa will meet on October 22-24 in the southwestern Russian city of Kazan.

“Countries with major resources and the world’s biggest economies are associated with the BRICS forum, especially Russia, India, and China,” said Hamdullah Fitrat, a government deputy spokesman.

“Currently, we have good economic ties and commercial exchanges with them. We are keen to expand our relations and participate in the economic forums of the BRICS,” he said.

The Taliban authorities have not been officially recognised by any country but have growing relations with founding BRICS nations, including China and Russia.

The group, which has recently expanded by including Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Ethiopia, has not publicly reacted to the Taliban government’s comments.

A spokesman for the Afghanistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs told AFP on Wednesday that they have “no information so far” about an invitation to the event.

Both Moscow and Beijing have expressed their readiness to invest in commercial projects in Afghanistan and to cooperate with Taliban authorities in its fight against Islamic State Khorasan, the Islamic State group’s Afghanistan branch.