‘Friendly’ neighbours China, Pak endorse Taliban rule in Afghanistan

As the Taliban captured Kabul and seized control of Afghanistan, neighbours China and Pakistan announced their endorsement of the move, and offered friendly ties.

After two decades of war with numerous casualties, US President Joe Biden had proposed a complete withdrawal of American troops by September 11 this year. But the US, and the rest of the world, has watched in horror the rapid advance of the Taliban in the region, and its capture of the government.

Call for cooperation

China is willing to develop ‘friendly and cooperative’ relations with Afghanistan, an AFP report quoted a Chinese government spokeswoman as saying. Beijing had been taking steps to maintain unofficial ties with the Taliban even as the US began to withdraw its forces from Afghanistan, the report added.

Also read: US myopia, Pak collusion help Taliban return to Afghan ‘Islamic Emirate’

China, which shares a rugged 76 km border with Afghanistan, has always been anxious about the region becoming a staging point for its minority Uyghur separatists, the AFP report said. A top-level Taliban delegation, however, promised Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Tianjin at a meeting last month that they would not allow Uyghur militants to use Afghanistan as a base. China’s offer of economic support as well as investment in Afghanistan’s reconstruction may be an act of quid pro quo.

“The Taliban have repeatedly expressed their hope to develop good relations with China, and that they look forward to China’s participation in the reconstruction and development of Afghanistan,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters on Monday.

“We welcome this. China respects the right of the Afghan people to independently determine their own destiny and is willing to continue to develop… friendly and cooperative relations with Afghanistan.”

High praise from Imran Khan

Meanwhile, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan referred to the Taliban sweep of Afghanistan as “breaking the chains of (American) slavery”.

“You take over the other culture and become psychologically subservient. When that happens, please remember, it is worse than actual slavery. It is harder to throw off the chains of cultural enslavement. What is happening in Afghanistan now, they have broken the shackles of slavery,” he was quoted as saying by an NDTV report. Khan was reportedly referring to the use of English as a medium of education and adoption of Western culture by eastern nations.

International policy experts condemned Khan’s statement as well as Pakistan’s decades-long tacit support of the Taliban. An ANI report noted that Pakistan has served as a sanctuary for Taliban militants. “Officials have acknowledged that Taliban fighters maintain homes and families in Pakistan, at a safe distance from the battlefields,” said the report.