Taliban’s Strategic Studies Center to Host Central Asia Think Tanks Meeting in Kabul

The Taliban’s Foreign Ministry Strategic Studies Center has announced that the “Central Asia Think Tanks” meeting is scheduled to take place on June 16 in Kabul. This event comes as the Taliban administration seeks to expand its political and intellectual interactions with regional countries.

Zakir Jalali, the Second Deputy Political Minister of the Foreign Ministry, wrote on the social media platform X that he held extensive discussions regarding the details of this meeting on the sidelines of the “Second Tirmiz Dialogue” with several research centers from Central Asian countries. According to him, these consultations focused on intellectual and regional cooperation.

The Second Tirmiz Dialogue was also attended by Nooruddin Azizi, the Taliban’s Minister of Industry and Trade. Additionally, Zakir Jalali and Gonchegul Arman represented the Strategic Studies Center at the event.

Experts believe that organizing such meetings can be part of the Taliban’s efforts to gain legitimacy and strengthen regional relations; however, broad domestic restrictions, especially in political and social spheres, remain key challenges to the administration’s official acceptance at the international level.