It was the first visit by a senior Pakistani official since the Pakistan Democratic government came to power in April 2022 -- and more significantly a woman lawmaker headed the Pakistan delegation.
Images of Khar, dressed in blue, greeting her Afghan hosts with her right hand on her chest were unfamiliar – and very strong. Afghan foreign minister and other government officials welcomed her with a smile, or so the pictures suggested. Other images posted on the social media show her leading the discussion in a conference room filled with government officials – all of them men.
Khar is not the first woman lawmaker to visit Afghanistan from Pakistan. Mariana Baabar wrote in The News that senior diplomat Tehmina Janjua made visits to Kabul during Ashraf Ghani and Hamid Karzai governments. The Taliban have also welcomed EU and UN female diplomats since they have assumed power.
Since gender imbalance is heavily skewed towards men in this region, Khar leading the meeting of men may inspire equal women participation in politics in future. And, if women’s participation at the most senior levels is to be encouraged, such small but important diplomatic steps must be cheered.
If women’s participation at the most senior levels is to be encouraged, such small but important diplomatic steps as Khar’s visit to Kabul must be cheered.
Khar’s short visit to Kabul however stirred up some reaction on social media.
Journalist Shama Junjua wrote on Twitter, “Pakistan’s foreign minister state Hina Rabbani Khar reached Kabul. I hope that along with our security concern and attacks from Afghanistan border, she will bring the matter of #AfghanWomen , their education and rights.”
https://twitter.com/ShamaJunejo/status/1597497312502505472?s=20&t=DKQDa4nfca6q5drCWdQjTg
Activist Nayab Jan thought the picture of Khar greeting the Taliban government officials was “image of the day’.
https://twitter.com/NayabGJan/status/1597570090341634048?s=20&t=DKQDa4nfca6q5drCWdQjTg
A student of Quaid-e-Azam University tweeted, Zeeshan Azhar, I am not fond of commenting on displays, but this is quite a spectacle. Afghan Taliban officials waiting in queue for Pakistan's State Minister for Foreign Affairs, who also happen to be a 'W O M A N.'
https://twitter.com/AzharZeeshan4/status/1597547479633113090?s=20&t=-J88TwBMAs5h0069EN7xJg
Hina Rabbani Khar also met acting Deputy Prime Minister for Administrative Affairs of Afghanistan Abdul Salam Hanafi to discuss bilateral trade, connectivity and people-to-people contacts.
She also met the Women’s Chamber of Commerce to discuss important women’s role in society, and strengthening linkages between women entrepreneurs from both countries. She announced that Pakistan would give preference to the import of products by women-run businesses.
Taliban leadership doesn’t take women’s voices, expertise and insights seriously. They have pushed women far into the background. They banned Afghan women from entering Kabul’s public parks and funfairs. They are already banned from travelling without a male escort and forced to wear a hijab or burqa whenever out of the home.