Press Releases
Statement by the Minister for Foreign Affairs on the Announcement concerning the Opening of a Qatar Office by the Taliban
June 19, 2013
- On June 18 (the same day local time), in Doha, Qatar, representatives of the Qatari government and the Taliban announced that the Taliban will open a liaison office in Qatar. Reconciliation between the Government of Afghanistan and the Taliban is one of the most important issues related to the stability and reconstruction of Afghanistan. Japan welcomes the opening of the Qatar office by the Taliban and expects that this will lead to an early start of reconciliation negotiations and a peaceful solution to the conflict.
- Since 2001, Japan has implemented a total of approximately 4.8 billion US dollars of assistance to Afghanistan in the fields of socio-economic development and enhancement of security capacity. Japan also hosted the Tokyo Conference on Afghanistan in July 2012, and has been thus far actively contributing to the reconstruction of Afghanistan.
- Japan will continue to support a reconciliation process led by Afghanistan. Moving forward, Japan will support Afghanistan and contribute to the stability and sustained development of the country in cooperation with the international community.
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* The foregoing is a provisional translation. The date indicated above denotes the date of the original in Japanese.