The foreign relations of Afghanistan are in a transitional phase since the 2021 fall of Kabul to the Taliban and the collapse of the internationally-recognized Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. No country has recognised the new regime, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Although some countries have engaged in informal diplomatic contact with the Islamic Emirate, formal relations remain limited to representatives of the Islamic Republic.
Turkmenistan's declaration of "permanent neutrality" was formally recognized by the United Nations in 1995. Former President Niyazov stated that the neutrality would prevent Turkmenistan from participating in multi-national defense organizations, but allows military assistance. Its neutral foreign policy has an important place in the country's constitution. Although the Government of Turkmenistan claims to favour trade with and export to the United States, and Turkey, its single largest commercial partner is China, which buys the vast bulk of Turkmen natural gas via the Central Asia–China gas pipeline. Turkmenistan has significant commercial relationships with Russia and Iran and growing cross-border trade with Afghanistan. The Government of Turkmenistan often appears to use the conflicting interests of these regional powers as a means to extract concessions, especially on energy issues.
Turkmenistan is a country in Central Asia bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest and the Caspian Sea to the west. Ashgabat is the capital and largest city. It is one of the six independent Turkic states. With a population of 6.5 million, Turkmenistan is the 35th most-populous country in Asia and has the lowest population of the Central Asian republics while being one of the most sparsely populated nations on the Asian continent.
The Turkmenistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan–India (TAPI) Gas Pipeline, also known as Trans-Afghanistan Pipeline, is a natural gas pipeline being developed by the Galkynysh – TAPI Pipeline Company Limited with participation of the Asian Development Bank. The pipeline will transport natural gas from the Galkynysh Gas Field in Turkmenistan through Afghanistan into Pakistan and then to India. Construction on the project started in Turkmenistan on 13 December 2015, while construction of the Afghanistan-Pakistan section of the pipeline was held in February 2018. Proponents of the project see it as a modern continuation of the Silk Road.
The Ministry for National Security or MNS is the secret police agency for the government of Turkmenistan. It is composed largely of the remnants of KGB organs left over after the collapse of the Soviet Union; its functions remain largely the same as well. The MNB and the national police force are under the direction of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Until 2002, it was known as the KNB.
Afghan passports are international travel documents issued by the General Directorate of Passports to nationals and citizens of Afghanistan. Every person with a valid Afghan identity card (Tazkira) can apply for and receive an Afghan passport, which is renewable every 5–10 years.
The Embassy of Afghanistan in Moscow is the diplomatic mission of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan to the Russian Federation. It is located at 42 Povarskaya Street in the Arbat district of Moscow. Following the fall of the country to the Taliban in August 2021, the embassy remained in operation as a representative of the Islamic Republic, until the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs accredited Taliban appointee Jamal Nasir Gharwal as charge d'affaires on 9 April 2022.
Afghanistan and Canada established diplomatic relations in 1968. In 2003, Canada opened its embassy in Kabul and appointed its first resident ambassador. Afghanistan appointed its first resident ambassador to Canada in 2002. In August 2021, Canada closed its embassy in Kabul with the return of the Taliban to power in Afghanistan.
The Republic of Uzbekistan has an embassy in Ashgabat. Turkmenistan has an embassy in Tashkent. Both countries were previously subordinated republics of the Soviet Union as Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic and Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic before its collapse in 1991.
The Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in Washington, D.C. was the primary diplomatic mission of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to the United States. The building is located at 2341 Wyoming Avenue N.W. in Washington, D.C.'s Kalorama neighborhood. The chancery is built in the Colonial Revival style.
French-Turkmen relations are the bilateral relations between France and Turkmenistan. France has an embassy in Ashgabat and Turkmenistan has an embassy in Paris. Both countries are full members of the OSCE and the United Nations.
An embassy without a government is a diplomatic mission that represents a deposed government to its host country. Such a mission usually arises from a civil conflict which leads to a regime change from an internationally recognised government to one or more new governments that may or may not be recognised when established for a variety or reasons.
The Taliban has ruled Afghanistan as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan since taking control by force in 2021, overthrowing the internationally recognized Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. The takeover was widely criticized by the international community, and no countries have extended diplomatic recognition to the new regime, despite nominally maintaining relations with Afghanistan. The Taliban has campaigned for international recognition since the takeover. Several countries have vowed never to recognize the Islamic Emirate, and others have said they will do so only if human rights in the country are respected. Some countries have accredited Taliban diplomats at the chargé d'affaires level despite not recognizing the Islamic Emirate. In September 2023, China became the first country to formally name a new ambassador to the country since the takeover, and in January 2024 recognized the Taliban's envoy to China; however, China still does not formally recognize the Taliban.
