Afghanistan’s Future Not Include Those Who Deprived Its People, says Khalilzad

DID Press: Zalmay Khalilzad, former U.S. special envoy on Afghanistan peace process, recently issued a pointed warning: those responsible for depriving Afghanistan people of opportunities over the past two decades must not include in the country’s future. His comments, delivered in a recent interview, underscore the moral and political stakes facing Afghanistan today.

Khalilzad criticized Pakistan’s long-standing role in the region, tracing persistent tensions between Kabul and Islamabad to the Durand Line—a border that has fueled disputes for generations. “Pakistan seeks first to create internal problems in Afghanistan and then present itself as the power capable of solving them,” he said. This decades-long strategy continues to impede stability and regional cooperation.

Regading the US stance toward Kabul, Khalilzad noted that formal political relations between the United States and the Taliban interim administration remain limited, but cooperative in some areas such as counterterrorism.

He described Russia’s recognition of the Taliban as “a significant and important step,” signaling shifts in global engagement with Kabul.

Yet the stakes extend far beyond diplomacy. Khalilzad decried the ongoing closure of schools and universities for Afghanistani girls and called for meaningful dialogue with Afghanistan leaders. His central argument is clear: those who systematically stripped Afghanistan people of educational, economic, and social opportunities should have no role in shaping the country’s political or social future.

Afghanistan stands at a crossroads. If its future is to be built on stability, justice, and genuine inclusion, the international community and domestic stakeholders must ensure that the architects of past deprivation do not dictate what comes next. Otherwise, the country risks repeating the injustices of its recent past, leaving generations of Afghanistan people marginalized and voiceless.