India, Russia, Pakistan urge Taliban to respect rights of all Afghans

The foreign ministers of India, Russia and Pakistan on Friday called for a representative government in Afghanistan and the protection of women’s rights, almost two years after the Islamist Taliban swept to power in Kabul.
They were speaking at the day-long meeting of foreign ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in the Indian coastal resort state of Goa, just ahead of a meeting scheduled over the weekend in Pakistan between the foreign ministers of Pakistan, China and Afghanistan.
No country has recognised the Taliban who took over Afghanistan in August 2021, after a 20-year insurgency against U.S.-led forces, with a speed and ease that took the world by surprise, following which President Ashraf Ghani fled the country.
Russia’s Sergei Lavrov said Moscow expected the Taliban leadership to “deliver on their promises to come up with an inclusive government”.