Uneasy peace.

The writer, a former foreign secretary, is DG, Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad, and the author of Diplomatic Footprints.

IT has been 10 months since America's exit from Afghanistan last August. The world now engages with the Afghan Taliban as the country's de facto government. But there's no move to recognise the Taliban as Afghanistan's legitimate, de jure rulers.

Editorial: Taliban recognition

Taliban supporters argue that if the world can recognise governments run by dictators or kings, then why not the Taliban dispensation? Given the manner in which the Taliban ran their government in the late 1990s, the world first wants to see if they can make progress on three critical elements: forming an inclusive government; respecting women rights, especially girls' education; and ensuring that Afghan soil is not used by terrorist entities.

There is also a legal issue. The UN Security Council Resolution 1267 had imposed sanctions on several Taliban leaders. Until the Taliban leadership is delisted from the sanctions' regime, the world might be reluctant to extend formal recognition to the Taliban government. This poses a dilemma. If the Taliban government is ostracised, and it fails or becomes weak, terrorist forces will regain ground in Afghanistan. On the other hand, if they are incentivised, they would be in a better position to counter terrorist groups. However, public opinion in the US and some other countries opposes the Taliban and their philosophy, and is not likely to allow these governments to extend help to the Taliban.

The most disturbing corollary of this dilemma is the worsening humanitarian situation - compounded by the recent earthquake - and likely economic collapse. Prices are rising. Banks do not have money. Joblessness is rampant. Food and medicine supplies are urgently needed. The Taliban government does not have money to pay civil servants or soldiers. Violence against ethnic and religious minorities has increased.

Read: Dealing with the Afghan crisis

To avert a humanitarian disaster and ensure stability, all stakeholders - the Taliban government, regional countries, and the international community - have a role to play.

First, it falls upon the Taliban to make visible progress towards forming an inclusive government. Some anti-Taliban Afghan groups have launched a national resistance movement. It would be in the Taliban's own interest to carry along other ethnic groups so that the country doesn't descend again into...