INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Britain&s foreign office minister of state, Andrew Mitchell, said Wednesday the UK is &some way off& moving to recognise the Islamic Emirate
of Afghanistan although officials from both sides speak regularly.Responding to calls from former minister Tobias Ellwood for the UK to
re-engage with the IEA and reopen the Kabul embassy, Mitchell said the UK government has a &pragmatic dialogue& with the IEA but needs to
&keep the pressure on them to change their approach&.He also said the government will keep &very much under review& calls to reopen the UK
embassy in Afghanistan, but he noted the security and political situation does not currently allow them to re-establish a diplomatic
presence in Kabul.Speaking in Westminster Hall, Mitchell said the IEA&s &increasingly repressive& policies have had a &devastating impact&
on women and girls in Afghanistan while minority groups face &discrimination and attacks&.He said the basic expectations, as made clear by
UN resolutions, include ensuring Afghanistan will &no longer be used as a base for terrorist activities&.Mitchell told MPs: &Our senior
officials speak regularly to the Taliban (IEA), including to secure the release of four British national detainees last October.&Officials
also visit Kabul when the situation permits, including a visit last month from the British charge d&affaires to Kabul, where he met a wide
range of senior Taliban figures.&Regardless of the complexities of the relationship, the UK government has helped lead the way in securing
the Afghan people.&In respect of (Mr Ellwood&s) plea about the embassy, we will note what he has said and keep that very much under
review.&Mitchell also said the UK has dispersed more than £600 million since 2021 in aid for Afghanistan.Mitchell added: &Our intention
since August 2021 has been to re-establish a diplomatic presence in Kabul when the security and political situation allows
We do not believe that is the case at the moment but officials continue to visit and we&ll keep this under close review.&We&re clear that we
must have a pragmatic dialogue with the Taliban (IEA) however this does not amount to recognition
We are some way off moving to recognise the Taliban and we need to keep the pressure on them to change their approach.&This does not stop us
from having an impact on the ground and directly helping the people of Afghanistan in any pragmatic way.&The IEA has not yet commented on
Mitchell&s address to British MPs.The post British minister says officials speak regularly but UK ‘some way off& recognizing IEA first
