Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, for what reason Ministers have not yet met with Afghan government leaders to discuss the humanitarian situation in that country.

FCDO officials engage and press the Taliban on our core concerns, including the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan. The UK's Special Envoy for Famine Prevention and Humanitarian Affairs, the Chargé d'Affaires ad interim and Deputy Head of Mission of the UK Mission to Afghanistan visited Kabul on 10 February to discuss the humanitarian crisis with senior Taliban officials including Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi and Abdul Haq Wasiq.

As the PM has said previously, if the Taliban wants international acceptance, then they need to abide by international norms, to ensure safe passage for those who wish to leave the country, respect the rights of women and girls and prevent Afghanistan from again becoming a place where terrorism flourishes, and from which terrorist groups are able to threaten the West and our interests. At present Ministers are not engaging directly with the Taliban.