The Emir of Qatar had urged the Taliban that Afghanistan is not the country of two decades before, it has been changed, and the Taliban should accept the realities of today’s Afghan society.
On Monday (October 5, 2020), Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani arrived in Qatar for a bilateral meeting with Qatari leaders, where he also met Afghan negotiators, businessmen and academia.
President Ashraf Ghani met with Skeikh Khalid bin Khalifa Al Thani, the Prime Minister of Qatar and Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar during his visit to that country and discussed efforts to enhance bilateral ties, economic cooperation, and Afghanistan’s peace process.
The official relations started between Afghanistan and Qatar in 2003 as Afghanistan inaugurated its embassy in Doha, capital of Qatar that year. Despite having people-to-people relations with Afghanistan, Qatar did not reciprocate the move until Saeed Mubarak al-Khayarin al-Hajri became appointed as the very first ambassador to Kabul in April 29, 2019. The reason behind the delay, as experts believe, has been Kabul close ties with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, Doha's rivals in the Gulf region.
Only just, both Afghan and Qatari leaders stressed on strengthening bilateral ties, expanding trade and economic cooperation, and exploring further opportunities to set the stage for joint works between the two countries. They also discussed investment opportunities and potentials in Afghanistan particularly in the fields of natural gas, mining, and renewable energy.
Before oil was discovered in 1939, Qatar consisted of little more than a few villages on the shoreline, economically dependent on pearl fishing and nomadic cattle-breeding tribes. Under British rule as a “protected state,” the first political institutions and infrastructure were developed, literally fueled by hydrocarbon revenue. After the British withdrawal, Qatar declared its independence on September 1, 1971.
Meanwhile, the President Ghani expressed his wish in order for their products to reach the markets of Qatar, and, in return, the Qatari side iterated to further enhance bilateral economic and political cooperation, particularly on appointing delegation and forming technical committees.
As a first known record, the Qatari businessmen began to invest in the housing and trade sectors of Afghanistan in 2013, following former President Karzai visit to Qatar in March of that year. In 2016, a Qatari prince, Sheikh Ali bin Abdullah Al Thani, has pledged $140 million comprised of non-refundable aid and capital for joint investment in key housing sectors in Afghanistan.
Based on the 2012 statistics available with Afghanistan embassy in Doha, the number of Afghans in Qatar at that time was about 2,600. Of these, some 1,000 Afghans held Pakistani passports. Many Afghans came to the Gulf on Pakistani passports to overcome the difficulties in getting visas during the Afghan war. Need to mention that, the actual number of Afghans in Qatar could be higher, because all of them are not registered with the embassy.
Moreover, President Ghani met with the U.S. Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Gen Miller Commander U.S. Forces during his stay in Doha. They discussed the latest development on Afghanistan peace process and the ongoing peace talks between the Afghanistan government and the Taliban. The U.S. Envoy and Gen Miller affirmed the U.S. Support for Afghan-led, and Afghan-owned peace process. The two sides expressed concerns over the increase of violence by the Taliban and reiterated the need for an immediate and significant reduction of violence leading to a ceasefire.
Afghanistan’s MoU with Qatar, signed in 2008, was expected to allow 25,000 workers to enter Qatar; however, to the knowledge of MoLSAMD not a single worker has found employment in Qatar via this agreement. The Government of Qatar continues to promise that the MoU will go into effect shortly; however, it is unclear what obstacles are stopping its immediate implementation. Follow-up conversations should be held with the Government of Qatar to understand whether they feel parts of the agreement are not being met or if the problem is simply in implementation. One hypothesis is that the agreement fell through when a Taliban office was opened in Qatar. The theory is that this instability in the diplomatic relationships between the two countries may have undermined the effectiveness of the MoU, explaining why work visas to Qatar are not being issued to Afghans.
Nevertheless, President Ghani had a visit to Qatar at the invitation of the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani back in May of 2016 as well, where he addressed the 16th Doha Forum titled "Stability and Prosperity for All" and met the Emir and Qatari prime minister Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani. Ghani also met Trade Council of Monarch, businessmen, investors and Qatar-based Afghan businessmen. In addition, President Ghani revisited Qatar in October 2016 to condole with Qatari leaders the demise of the former Emir Khalifa bin Hamad Al-Thani. The Qatari leadership had assured President Ashraf Ghani of support in different fields especially the Afghanistan’s peace effort at that visit.
Building on its emergence as a gas superpower, the past decade has seen Qatar translate its growing international leverage into considerable ‘soft power’ assets. Especially significant was the establishment of Al-Jazeera in November 1996. Interestingly, the entire commencement session of the intra-Afghan talks was also aired live by Al-Jazeera on September 12.
Since Qatar has tried to keep or establish good relations with all countries and political groups, including the United States, Iran, Israel, Hamas and Fatah in Palestine, and the Taliban in Afghanistan – an array of alliances that no other Arab state can claim, made the U.S. and Taliban to reach an agreement in 2010 to initiate exploratory talks in regards to ending the conflict in Afghanistan after the latter announced its intention to open an office in Doha. The office was opened in 2013 to facilitate reconciliation between members of the Taliban and the Government of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. As a result, the Afghan ambassador was pulled from Qatar, though this post has since been reinstated.
When it comes intra-Afghan talks; Qatar is tactful and act wisely; however, the country has always preferred the Afghan government to deal with. For instance, once Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar had urged the Taliban that Afghanistan is not the country of two decades before, it has been changed, and the Taliban should accept the realities of today’s Afghan society.
A ceasefire is top priority for the Afghan officials and the western diplomats who are facilitating these talks in the on-going intra-Afghan talks; however, analysts believe the Taliban would not agree to a comprehensive ceasefire since clashes with Afghan forces and violence gives them leverage at the negotiation table.
Furthermore, Taliban presence in Qatar is not limited to recent years. Although, Qatar did not officially recognize the Taliban government between 1996-2001; but it, as a former Taliban foreign service official says, had “intimate” ties with the group.
Given the broad ties, good faith and capability of Qatar in hosting the Afghan Taliban since last almost one decade, providing every kind of facilitation in order for the US-Taliban talks to become succeed, the country is still able to do its best in favor of the Afghan nation. Yet, it shall be noted that, besides Qatar, close to a dozen other countries including Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, China, Russia, Turkey, Iran, Indonesia, Japan, Norway and Germany have expressed their interest and readiness to host intra-Afghan talks anytime requested.
Apart from every intervention in the Afghan peace process, Afghans demand an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire; hence, President Ghani called on the Taliban to "have courage and declare a national ceasefire" on Tuesday as he visited Doha where peace talks between Taliban and Afghan government stalled.
Consequently, Qatar is highly suggested to use its entire diplomatic tools to placate the Taliban to agree to a significant reduction of violence, and even a ceasefire, in Afghanistan until the both sides reach a concluding agreement.