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Diplomat (3 November 2021)

Catherine Putz

Over the weekend, a Turkmen delegation passed through Kabul for meetings with the Taliban government. At the top of the agenda were Turkmenistan’s pipe dreams: The Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-India-Pakistan (TAPI) gas pipeline, which has been in some form of development for decades. 

Turkmen Minister of Foreign Affairs Rashid Meredov is one of of the highest-level Central Asian officials to travel to meet with the Taliban in Afghanistan.

In late September, Kyrgyzstan dispatched deputy chairman of the country’s Security Council, Taalatbek Masadykov, and the head of the Kyrgyz presidential administration’s foreign policy department, Jeenbek Kulubaev, to forge connections with the Taliban. A few days later, Kazakhstan announced that its ambassador to Afghanistan, Alimzhan Esengeldiev, had met with Taliban leaders, too.

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