Afghanistan: Decoding the New Taliban 'Caretaker' Government and Leaders

17 of the 33 new Taliban Cabinet members are global terrorists, including the prime minister.

The Big Story Podcast on Taliban's New Acting Government and Cabinet. Image used for representation only.

(Photo: Arnika Kala/ the Quint)

Three weeks after the Taliban captured Afghanistan, they announced their new acting government who will be running the country, which will be now known as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

However, the announcement also rang alarm bells around the world as the Cabinet was far from “inclusive” and “representative” as the Taliban earlier asserted. With no women in the Cabinet and the presence of only three minorities, the entire Cabinet comprises Taliban leaders and loyalists – some of whom are global terrorists and are listed on the US and UN watch list – and include members of the islamic terrorist mafia the Haqqani network.

The inclusion of the Haqqani network also indicates that Pakistan played a role in handpicking the Cabinet members since the country has been home to the terror mafia for at least the past four decades and shares close ties with the Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

In today’s episode, we discuss the portfolios of the new Taliban government, the involvement of Pakistan and how should India, which has engaged with Afghanistan closely for the past two decades, and the world engage with the new regime.

For this, we spoke with former Indian ambassador to Afghanistan and Secretary [West] of the Ministry of External Affairs, Vivek Katju.