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 Afghanistan |  France |
|---|---|
| Diplomatic mission | |
| Afghan Embassy, Paris | French Embassy, Kabul (closed) |
Afghanistan–France relations are the diplomatic relations between Afghanistan and France. Both nations are members of the United Nations.
| | |
Afghanistan | France |
|---|---|
| Diplomatic mission | |
| Afghan Embassy, Paris | French Embassy, Kabul (closed) |
Afghanistan–France relations are the diplomatic relations between Afghanistan and France. Both nations are members of the United Nations.
Afghanistan and France established diplomatic relations in 1922. In 1923, France opened a diplomatic legation in Kabul as well as an office for the French Archaeological Delegation in Afghanistan (DAFA). [1] [2] Initially, relations between both nations were underdeveloped. In 1928, Afghan King Amanullah Khan paid an official visit to France.
In January 1943, during World War II, France closed its diplomatic legation in Kabul. As a result, Afghanistan closed its diplomatic legation in Paris in 1944 when Vichy France declined Afghanistan's diplomatic legation dual accreditation to France and Switzerland. Soon after the war, both nations re-opened their legations and upgraded them to embassies in 1949. [3]
In 1965, Afghan King Mohammed Zahir Shah paid an official visit to France and met with President Charles de Gaulle. In 1968, French Prime Minister Georges Pompidou paid an official visit to Afghanistan.
In 1979, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan starting the Soviet–Afghan War. For the next 25 years, relations between both nations became nearly nonexistent. After the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan, the French government announced in January 1990 that it would reopen its embassy in Kabul. [4] Years later the Civil War and Taliban stopped relations once again. [3]
Since the NATO led War in Afghanistan, France has participated in multiple military excursions and battles throughout the country. In 2002, France re-established diplomatic relations with the Afghan government under President Hamid Karzai. Under the International Security Assistance Force, France has played a leading role of providing security within the North-East part of Afghanistan, especially in the Kapisa Province. [2]
In August 2021, France closed its embassy in Kabul due to the return of the Taliban in power, which has not been recognized by any state in the world. [5] Afghanistan has an embassy in Paris. [6]
Presidential visits from Afghanistan to France [7] [8] [9]
Presidential visits from France to Afghanistan [2] [10] [11]
Throughout the years, both nations have signed numerous bilateral agreements such as an Agreement of Cooperation between the University of Paris and Kabul University (1960); Agreement on Health Cooperation (1963); Cultural and Technical Cooperation (1966); Agreement on Agriculture Cooperation (1969) and a Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation (2012). [1] [12]
In 2015, trade between Afghanistan and France totaled €27.8 million Euros. [12] France's three main exports to Afghanistan are agricultural products, pharmaceuticals, rubber and plastic products.
Mohammad Zahir Shah was the last King of Afghanistan, reigning from 8 November 1933 until he was deposed on 17 July 1973. Serving for 40 years, Zahir was the longest-serving ruler of Afghanistan since the foundation of the Durrani Empire in the 18th century.
Hamid Karzai is an Afghan politician who served as the fourth president of Afghanistan from July 2002 to September 2014, including as the first elected president of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan from December 2004 to September 2014. He previously served as Chairman of the Afghan Interim Administration from December 2001 to July 2002. He is the chief (khān) of the Popalzai Durrani tribe of Pashtuns in Kandahar Province.
The national flag of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, adopted on 15 August 2021 following the Taliban's victory in the 2001–2021 war, features a white field with a black Shahada inscribed. Since the 20th century, Afghanistan has changed its national flag several times. The national flag had black, red and green colors most of the time during the period.
A jirga is an assembly of leaders that makes decisions by consensus according to Pashtunwali, the Pashtun social code. It is conducted in order to settle disputes among the Pashtuns, but also by members of other ethnic groups who are influenced by them in present-day Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Relations between Afghanistan and the United States began in 1921 under the leaderships of King Amanullah Khan and President Warren G. Harding, respectively. The first contact between the two nations occurred further back in the 1830s when the first recorded person from the United States explored Afghanistan. The United States government foreign aid program provided about $500 million in aid for economic development; the aid ended before the 1978 Saur Revolution. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 was a turning point in the Cold War, when the United States started to financially support the Afghan resistance. The country, under both the Carter and Reagan administrations committed $3 billion dollars in financial and diplomatic support and along with Pakistan also rendering critical support to the anti-Soviet Mujahideen forces. Beginning in 1980, the United States began admitting thousands of Afghan refugees for resettlement, and provided money and weapons to the Mujahideen through Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). The USSR withdrew its troops in 1989.
The following lists events that happened during 2004 in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan–Pakistan relations refer to the bilateral ties between Afghanistan and Pakistan. In August 1947, the partition of British India led to the emergence of Pakistan along Afghanistan's eastern frontier, and the two countries have since had a strained relationship; Afghanistan was the sole country to vote against Pakistan's admission into the United Nations following the latter's independence. Various Afghan government officials and Afghan nationalists have made irredentist claims to large swathes of Pakistan's territory in modern-day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Pakistani Balochistan, which complete the traditional homeland of "Pashtunistan" for the Pashtun people. The Taliban has received substantial financial and logistical backing from Pakistan, which remains a significant source of support. Since the Taliban's inception, the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency has been providing them with funding, training, and weaponry. However, Pakistan's support for the Taliban is not without risks, as it involves playing a precarious and delicate game. Afghan territorial claims over Pashtun-majority areas that are in Pakistan were coupled with discontent over the permanency of the Durand Line which has long been considered the international border by every nation other than Afghanistan, and for which Afghanistan demanded a renegotiation, with the aim of having it shifted eastward to the Indus River. Territorial disputes and conflicting claims prevented the normalization of bilateral ties between the countries throughout the mid-20th century. Further Afghanistan–Pakistan tensions have arisen concerning a variety of issues, including the Afghanistan conflict and Afghan refugees in Pakistan, water-sharing rights, and a continuously warming relationship between Afghanistan and India, but most of all the Taliban in Kabul providing sanctuary and safe havens to TTP terrorists to attack Pakistani territory. Nonetheless, the Durand Line witnesses frequent occurrences of suicide bombings, airstrikes, or street battles on an almost daily basis.
Afghanistan–India relations are the diplomatic relations between India and Afghanistan. They had been historical neighbors when India was under colonial rule and have since shared cultural ties through Bollywood and cricket.
Habibia High School is a school in Kabul, Afghanistan which has educated many of the former and current Afghan elite, including former Presidents Ashraf Ghani and Hamid Karzai, as well as musician Ahmad Zahir. It was founded by King Habibullah Khan in 1903 and is considered one of the oldest Schools In Afghanistan. It is situated in the south of the city in a district known as Karteh Seh.
Mohammad Yousef Pashtun is an Afghan technocrat and politician. He served as Minister of Urban Development and Housing for two terms and as Governor of Kandahar province in 2003, replacing Gul Agha Sherzai under President Hamid Karzai's administration. In 2010, he was appointed as Senior Adviser to President Karzai on Construction, Mines, Water & Energy. In 2014, minister Pashtun continued to serve as Senior Adviser to President Ashraf Ghani. Yِousef Pashtun is also chairing the Kabul New City Development Authority Board.
Ahmet Davutoğlu has described bilateral relations between Afghanistan and Turkey as "exemplary" even if the two countries do not border, but are close. A recent survey in Kabul of 1,259 people shows that Afghanistan relies mostly on Turkey, and considers Turkey to be Afghanistan's one and only true friend. Afghanistan was also the second nation to recognize the Republic of Turkey, after the Soviet Union, on 1 March 1923.
Abdullah Abdullah is an Afghan politician who led the High Council for National Reconciliation (HCNR) from May 2020 until August 2021, when the Afghan government was overthrown by the Taliban. The council had been established to facilitate peace talks between the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the Taliban insurgents. Abdullah served as the Chief Executive of Afghanistan from September 2014 to March 2020, and as Minister of Foreign Affairs from December 2001 to April 2005. Prior to that, he was a senior member of the Northern Alliance, working as an adviser to Ahmad Shah Massoud. He worked as an ophthalmologist and medical doctor in the 1980s.
After Operation Enduring Freedom in which the Taliban government was toppled in Afghanistan, in December 2001, the German city of Bonn hosted a conference – widely known as the Bonn Conference – of Afghan leaders at Hotel Petersberg, to choose the leader of an Afghan Interim Authority and establish an initial political agreement for reorganising the governmental institutions of Afghanistan. The Conference chose Hamid Karzai, who was subsequently elected President in 2004. Karzai subsequently appointed many anti-Taliban allies and regional leaders to senior posts within the interim government and to senior posts in the Provincial governments. The Conference set up the Bonn Agreement for institutional reorganisation.
Relations between Afghanistan and Tajikistan began in 1992. Afghanistan maintains an embassy in Dushanbe and a consulate in Khorugh. The current Afghanistan ambassador to Tajikistan is LTG. Mohammad Zahir Aghbar. Tajikistan maintains an embassy in Kabul and a consulate in Mazari Sharif, Faizabad and Kunduz. The current Tajikistan ambassador to Afghanistan is Sharofiddin Imom.
Diplomatic relations between Afghanistan and China were established in the 18th century, when Afghanistan was ruled by Ahmad Shah Durrani and China by Qianlong. But trade relations between these nations date back to at least the Han dynasty with the profitable Silk Road. Presently, China has an embassy in Kabul and Afghanistan has one in Beijing. The two countries share a 92 km (57 mi) border.
Diplomatic relations between Afghanistan and Japan were officially established in 1931, although early contacts date back to 1907 when the Afghan general Ayub Khan, who defeated the British in the Battle of Maiwand, visited Japan.
Afghanistan–Denmark relations refer to diplomatic ties between Afghanistan and Denmark. Afghanistan is represented in Denmark through its embassy in Oslo, Norway. Denmark used to have an embassy in Kabul until it was closed in 2021 due to the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, that has not been recognized by any state in the world. Denmark has 760 soldiers in Afghanistan, operating without caveat and concentrated in Helmand Province. Relations between the two countries are friendly. About 9,578 Afghans live in Denmark.
An emergency loya jirga was held in Kabul, Afghanistan between 11 and 19 June 2002 to elect a transitional administration. The loya jirga was called for by the Bonn Agreement and Bush administration. The agreement was drawn up in December 2001 in Germany. Conducted under United Nations auspices, the talks at Bonn sought a solution to the problem of government in Afghanistan after the US ousted the Taliban government.
Zalmai Rassoul is an Afghan politician who served as Foreign Minister of Afghanistan from January 2010 to October 2013. He previously served as National Security Advisor from June 2002 to January 2010. Through his various roles in Government, Rassoul played a key role in building the Afghan security architecture, uniting the international community in support of an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process, strengthening regional cooperation and security through the establishment of the Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan and the Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process, and rebuilding vital industries. He stood as a candidate in the 2014 presidential election.
Afghanistan–Italy relations are the diplomatic relations between Afghanistan and Italy which were formed in 1919. On June 3, 1921, they signed the agreement for the exchange of permanent Diplomatic mission and the centenary, on 2021, was celebrated with letters exchanged between their Chairs. Both nations are members of the United Nations but the new Taliban rulers of Afghanistan are not recognised as a valid government by them, or indeed any state so far.
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