On 14 October this year, information circulated that Taliban representatives asked Uzbekistan to cancel concerts and music programmes at the common market in Termez, otherwise Afghan citizens would not be allowed access to this market. However, the Uzbek Foreign Ministry soon denied these reports. According to the ministry, no appeals of this nature from Afghanistan have been received by the Uzbek side.

 

Like other ambiguities in relations between Uzbekistan and the Taliban government, such as the successive changes of their ambassadors in Tashkent for unknown reasons, this topic also remained uncertain.

 

In an interview with QALAMPIR.UZ, Hamza Boltaev, Head of the Centre for Afghanistan and South Asian Studies, tried to express a concrete opinion on these uncertainties. The expert highlighted Uzbekistan’s pragmatic approach towards the Taliban government, misunderstandings and challenges between the two countries, as well as prospects for the development of bilateral relations.

 

* The Institute for Advanced International Studies (IAIS) does not take institutional positions on any issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the IAIS.