WATCH: Trudeau says Monsef ‘expressed her views’ by calling Taliban ‘our brothers’

Liberal Minister for Gender Equality Maryam Monsef called the Taliban "our brothers" during a press conference providing updates on the situation in Afghanistan on Wednesday.

Monsef, an Afghan Canadian, said: "I want to take this opportunity to speak to our brothers the Taliban; we call on you to ensure the safe and secure passage of any individual in Afghanistan out of the country. We call on you to immediately stop the violence, the genocide, the femicide, the destruction of infrastructure, including heritage buildings."

The Taliban said in a press conference that they seek an "inclusive, Islamic" government, more moderate than when they last held power. They also vowed to respect women's rights, forgive those who fought them and ensure Afghanistan did not become a haven for terrorists.

UNICEF also took the Taliban’s reassurances about women’s rights at face value.

Monsef continued: "We call on you to return, immediately to the peacekeeping table, to the peace deal that was negotiated and to ensure women and minorities voices are a part of that discussion in a meaningful way."

Some Canadians born in Afghanistan expressed resentment towards the Taliban, citing past trauma as they questioned their intentions as thousands tried to flee the country.

Under Taliban rule in the 1990s, television and music were forbidden. Women were barred from attending school or working outside the home, and they had to wear a burqa in public and be escorted by a male guardian from the same household.

The statement comes just one day after Trudeau changed his tone on dealing with the Taliban. While he initially said that Canada had no plans to recognize the Taliban, on Tuesday, the prime minister said that there would be specific criteria that the terror group could meet to be heard at an international level potentially.

Trudeau said Wednesday his government has no plans to recognize them as Afghanistan’s government.

On Monsef’s comments, he said: "The Minister expressed her views and explained herself. We will continue to recognize the Taliban as a terrorist organization."

Trudeau added: "We will continue to work with the international community to get as many Afghans to safety," he said. "Not just in the coming days with the current operation, but in the coming months as we look to welcome more and more Afghans into the country."

At the onset of the Taliban’s expansion of power, capturing province after province and eventually the capital, Trudeau addressed the collapse of Afghanistan, uttering similar remarks before dropping the writ to signal a federal election.

He committed on August 15 to resettling 20,000 Afghans through the ongoing Special Immigration Measures (SIMs) program. "Our ongoing work to bring Afghans to safety in Canada under SIMs remains a top priority, and we will continue to work in close collaboration with partners in Afghanistan and allies on this commitment," he said.

On August 19, Trudeau said getting "as many [people] as we'd want" out of Afghanistan "is going to be almost impossible in the coming weeks."