Pakistan Excludes Taliban Representatives from 30th ECO Ministerial Meeting

Pakistan, serving as the rotating chair of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) Council of Ministers, announced that it has not sent an invitation to the representatives of the Taliban administration to attend the 30th meeting of the ECO Council of Ministers. The meeting is scheduled to take place on November 16 and 17 in Islamabad.

Afghanistan is one of the ten member countries of the ECO, and in previous years, Afghan representatives have participated in several meetings of the organization. Notably, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, Deputy Prime Minister in charge of economic affairs, attended the 17th ECO Summit in Azerbaijan, along with other Afghan officials who took part in various meetings held in Iran, Turkey, and the online 29th ECO Foreign Ministers Meeting.

However, Pakistan’s decision not to invite the Taliban representatives has resulted in diplomatic restrictions and has reduced Afghanistan’s regional cooperation relations. This move may have negative consequences for Afghanistan’s economic and political interactions with ECO member states.

While Pakistan stated that the goal of this meeting is to strengthen regional cooperation, the exclusion of Afghan representatives—especially at a time when Afghanistan is facing severe economic and political crises—will undermine the country’s position in regional collaboration.