U.S. officers informed Afghanistan’s Taliban that Washington was open to technical talks on financial stability and discussions on combating narcotics trafficking, the U.S. State Division mentioned on Monday following two days of talks in Qatar.

Taliban officers raised the lifting of journey and different restrictions on Taliban leaders and the return of Afghan central financial institution belongings held overseas, the Kabul administration mentioned.

No nation has formally acknowledged the Taliban for the reason that Islamist militant motion returned to energy in Afghanistan in 2021 when U.S.-led international forces withdrew in chaos after a 20-year battle.

The U.S. aspect repeated considerations about “deteriorating” human rights and referred to as anew on the Taliban to reverse bans on ladies’ secondary training and womens’ employment and for the discharge of detained People, the State Division mentioned in a press release.

It additionally sounded constructive notes about improved monetary knowledge, together with decrease inflation, and decreased opium poppy cultivation underneath a 2022 ban. The U.S. aspect “voiced openness to proceed dialogue on counternarcotics,” mentioned the assertion. The U.S. aspect additionally was prepared “for a technical dialogue relating to financial stabilization points quickly.”

Most Taliban leaders require U.N. permission to journey overseas, and Afghanistan’s banking sector has been crippled by sanctions for the reason that takeover by the Taliban administration, which calls itself the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA).

“IEA reiterated that it was essential for confidence-building” that journey bans on Taliban leaders be lifted and central financial institution reserves unfrozen “in order that Afghans can set up an economic system unreliant on international help,” international ministry spokesman Qahar Balkhi mentioned in an English-language assertion.

About $7 billion in Afghan central financial institution funds have been frozen within the Federal Reserve Financial institution of New York after the Taliban took energy. Half of the funds now are in a Swiss-based Afghan Fund.

A U.S.-funded audit of the Afghan central financial institution did not win Washington’s backing for a return of belongings from the belief fund.