Ambassador of Uzbekistan hands over the credentials to the Taliban

Oybek Usmanov, the new ambassador of Uzbekistan to Afghanistan, has presented a copy of his credentials to Amir Khan Muttaqi, the acting foreign minister of the Taliban’s interim government. During the meeting, Usmanov expressed his readiness to further strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries. This was reported by Sputnik.

According to Article 14 of the 1961 Vienna Convention, ambassadors are formally authorized through the presentation of credentials to heads of state. However, in the practice of the Taliban, this process involves the head of government, not the head of state, and the full formal ceremony may take place later.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan has yet to issue any official comments regarding this event.

For reference, Oybek Usmanov was born on September 24, 1962, in Tashkent. He graduated in 1985 from the Faculty of Oriental Studies and Philology of Tashkent State University (now the National University of Uzbekistan). Usmanov is fluent in English, Dari, and Pashto. He has been serving in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan since 1998, holding various positions within the central apparatus and Uzbek diplomatic missions abroad. From 2001 to 2006, he was Uzbekistan’s extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassador to Israel and the representative of the Palestinian Authority. He later served as ambassador to Pakistan from 2006 to 2011 and again from 2020 to 2024. Between 2011 and 2020, Usmanov was Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs.

He has replaced Yodgorkhuja Shodmonov, who served as the ambassador to Kabul from 2012 to 2024.

It is also noteworthy that on October 28, 2024, Alisher Tukhtaev, the new Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Uzbekistan to Pakistan, presented his credentials to President Asif Ali Zardari in Islamabad at the Aywan-e-Sadr palace.