Japan urged the Taliban government to respect human rights during a rare diplomatic meeting with a senior member of the visiting Afghan delegation, Tokyo said on Wednesday.
鈥楽everal鈥� high-ranking Taliban officials have been invited by the Nippon Foundation, the Tokyo-based non-profit said, reportedly on a week-long trip.
It is the first time that members of the Taliban government have visited Japan since their 2021 takeover in Afghanistan.
Toshihide Ando, head of the Japanese foreign ministry鈥檚 Middle Eastern and African affairs bureau, met a senior Taliban delegate on Tuesday, a ministry official said.
He 鈥榚ncouraged them to respect human rights and promote an inclusive political process鈥�, they said.
The Taliban authorities have imposed a harsh interpretation of Islamic law on the population, including the return of public floggings and executions.
Women have been barred from education, work and many public spaces in what the United Nations has described as 鈥榞ender apartheid鈥�.
The ministry declined to identify the Taliban official who met Ando, but Afghan media have said the group includes those overseeing higher education and foreign affairs policies.
The Taliban government makes regular visits to neighbouring and regional countries, including in Central Asia, Russia and China.
However, it has only officially visited Europe for diplomacy summits in Norway in 2022 and 2023.
Japan鈥檚 embassy in Kabul temporarily relocated to Qatar after the fall of the previous foreign-backed government and the takeover by the Taliban in 2021.
But it has since reopened and resumed diplomatic and humanitarian activities in the country.
As organiser of this week鈥檚 trip, the Nippon Foundation highlighted 鈥榯he harsh conditions under which women and children in Afghanistan are forced to live鈥�.
鈥榃e wanted them to recognise the need to accept a wide range of humanitarian support from the international society for those who are vulnerable鈥�, the foundation told AFP, explaining why it invited Taliban officials.
The initiative by the private-sector group is 鈥榤eaningful in that it complements a longstanding effort by the Japanese government to seek change from the Taliban in coordination with the international community鈥�, top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi said Monday.
