Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said if the international community does not lift sanctions against the Islamic Emirate and does not engage with it, there is a possibility that Afghanistan could go back to the 1990s.

Talking to Middle East Eye, Khan urged the international community to decrease sanctions on the Islamic Emirate. “It can easily go back to the Taliban of 2000, 20 years ago. And that would be a disaster.”

Khan said the Taliban is a good tool to defeat Deash in Afghanistan, adding that the Islamic Emirate has promised to respect human rights and cut ties with militant groups.

“Believe me, Taliban are the best bat to get rid of ISIS,” Khan said.

Meanwhile, a number of international relations analysts said Khan’s repeated calls for the recognition of the Islamic Emirate and his remarks about Afghanistan constitutes interference in Afghanistan’s issues.

Mohammad Khan Andar, an international relations analyst, said: “It is worrying that Pakistan instead of the Afghan government insists on recognition. The international community itself should oversee the situation.”

“Pakistan insists on recognition for the sake of its own interests, because it has been behind all the problems in Afghanistan and is still interfering in Afghanistan’s affairs,” said Sayed Hakim Kamal, a political analyst.

Officials from the Cultural Commission of the Ministry of Information and Culture said Afghanistan’s neighbors should support the call for recognition of the Islamic Emirate.

“The neighboring countries should try, like Pakistan, for the recognition of the new government, and the world should recognize the new government in Afghanistan,” said Noor Mohammad Motavakil, a member of the commission.

The international community has repeatedly said that the Islamic Emirate in order to be recognized should respect human rights, especially women’s rights, and ensure that Afghanistan’s soil will not be used against any country.