Afghanistan experienced political ups and downs in 2023 but the issue of the legitimization of the Islamic Emirate remained unchanged.

In 2023, although the Islamic Emirate has political and economic interactions with several countries and the officials of the caretaker government have had visits to different countries including in Europe, no country has stepped forward to recognize the government.

The Islamic Emirate is still insisting it has fulfilled the requirements of getting recognized, but the international community has its own criteria and conditions for the move.
Unfreezing the assets of Afghanistan’s central bank, lifting sanctions on officials of the Islamic Emirate and the recognition are the main demands of the caretaker government.

On the other hand, respecting human rights, allowing girls to attend schools beyond sixth grade and university, beginning national reconciliation, not allowing Afghanistan’s soil to threaten other countries and counterterrorism are among the demands the world has made from the Islamic Emirate.

On 13 September 2023, China sent Zhao Xing as ambassador to Kabul while Bilal Karimi, the ambassador of the Islamic Emirate was accepted as the official representative by Beijing on 1 December 2023. 
 
Although not recognizing it, the international community convened a few meetings on Afghanistan.
-           Moscow Format meeting in Kazan, 23 September 2023.
-           UNSC meeting about ISIS (Daesh) and Afghanistan, 25 August 2023.
-           Samarkand meeting in Uzbekistan, 15 August 2023.
-           The meeting of special representatives of the neighboring countries of Afghanistan in Uzbekistan, 7 March 2023.
-           Astana meeting in Kazakhstan, 12 August 2023.
-           Herat Security Dialogue in Tajikistan, 27 November 2023.
-           Shanghai Cooperation Organization online meeting hosted by India, 4 July 2023.
-           Oslo Forum meeting in Norway, 13 June 2023.
-           EU-Central Asia meeting about Afghanistan in Kazakhstan, 2 June 2023.
Speaking to a UN meeting in December, 2023, the head of UNAMA, Roza Otunbayeva, said that the human rights situation in Afghanistan today is a record of “systemic discrimination against women and girls”.

“The key features of the human rights situation in Afghanistan today are a record of systemic discrimination against women and girls, repression of political dissent and free speech, a lack of meaningful representation of minorities, and ongoing instances of extrajudicial killing, arbitrary arrests and detentions, torture and ill treatment,” she said.

Among all the meetings on Afghanistan, the representatives of the Islamic Emirate were only invited to the Moscow Format, and the Oslo Forum and Samarkand meeting.
 
Different officials, particularly Amir Khan Muttaqi, the acting minister of foreign affairs, and Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Deputy Prime Minister in economic affairs of the Islamic Emirate visited several countries in 2023.
 
-           Amir Khan Muttaqi visit to Iran, 2 December 2023.
-           Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar visit to Iran, 3 November 2023.
-           Amir Khan Muttaqi visit to Turkiye, 8 October 2023.
-           Amir Khan Muttaqi visit to Qatar, 9 July 2023.
-           Amir Khan Muttaqi visit to Pakistan, 5 May 2023.
 
The independent assessment of the UN special coordinator for Afghanistan was another key incident in politics of the country in 2023.

TOLOnews accessed the assessment on 12 November 2023 which includes the following issues.
-           Building confidence by Addressing the Immediate needs of Afghans,
-           Continuing cooperation on key security, regional and political Issues,
-           A roadmap for reintegration of the state of Afghanistan into the international system, mechanisms to support engagement.
-           Supporting bilateral and multilateral security cooperation
-           Emphasize on respecting the principle of non-discrimination, rights of women, allowing women and girls to participate in all aspects of life and respecting the rights and freedoms of all Afghan citizens.

But the foreign minister of the Islamic Emirate in a letter to the UNSG had asked to prioritize lifting sanctions on Afghanistan’s banking system, unfreezing assets of the bank and strengthening engagement with Afghanistan.

The assessment was also discussed in the behind-closed doors’ meeting of the UNSC on 11 December 2023.
In 2023, the Islamic Emirate also opened its several consulates in different countries where the foreign ministry sent their own diplomats.
-           The Istanbul consulate, 28 February 2023.
-           Afghanistan’s embassy in Tehran, 27 February 2023.
-           In 24 November 2023, Afghanistan’s embassy in New Delhi stopped operation permanently but 13 days later, the foreign ministry of India announced the resumption of its activities.

On the other hand, the political oppositions of the Islamic Emirate also had several meetings about the future of Afghanistan which were held by different countries.
 
-           “Afghanistan in the middle of past and future” meeting in Moscow, 23 November 2023.
-            Viana meeting in Austria, 4 December 2023.

The Islamic Emirate reacted to the meetings and the political deputy FM said that the meetings were aimed at weakening the current government.
The absence of a constitution is still deemed a bigger challenge in the country, but the Islamic Emirate has been saying that work on preparing a constitution is ongoing.

In 2023, the bilateral relations between Kabul and Islamabad witnessed a decline which was caused by Pakistan's concerns about TTP and the country’s security issues.
The concerns of Pakistan led to expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees by Pakistan.

On 29 December 2023, Kazakhstan ambassador to Kabul in a meeting with Amir Khan Muttaqi announced that his country’s supreme court had removed the Islamic Emirate from its list of sanctioned groups.

The move was welcomed by the acting FM of the Islamic Emirate and added that it will benefit bilateral relations.