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Beware Taliban promises, Afghanistan envoy to China warns
The Taliban cannot be trusted to keep their promise to China not to harbour Islamist militants seeking separatism in its Xinjiang region, Afghanistan‘s ambassador to China told Reuters, a week after China hosted Taliban officials.
The withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan, and a surge in fighting as Taliban insurgents gain territory, raise concerns for China, which worries that more instability in the region will disrupt its Belt and Road plan for infrastructure and energy links to the west and embolden separatists to destabilise its far western Xinjiang region.
Last week Foreign Minister Wang Yi hosted a Taliban delegation in the northern city of Tianjin, days after meeting U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman in the same location.
The Taliban pledged not to interfere in China’s internal affairs or allow Afghan territory to be used by anti-China forces.
But Afghan ambassador to China, Javid Ahmad Qaem, was dismissive of Taliban promises.
“I don’t think even China believes in that,” Qaem told Reuters in an interview, adding that the Taliban were “only saying this to get regional support”.
Instead of backing one Afghan side against another, as the United States and the Soviet Union have done in the past, China has adopted an “Afghan-led, Afghan-owned” approach, in line with its principle of non-intervention.
“The Chinese position is they want to mediate,” Qaem said in the Thursday interview at his embassy, adding that the U.S.-backed Afghan government welcomed China’s involvement and he understood why it wanted to stick to the middle ground.
The United Nations said in a report last month that the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), a militant group affiliated with al Qaeda that China says wants to set up a separate state in Xinjiang, is active in Afghanistan in areas including the northeastern province of Badakshan, where China and Afghanistan share a remote 76 km border.
Qaem, 41, who has been in his post since November 2019, scoffed at the suggestion the Taliban might turn against their fellow militants from Xinjiang.
“It’s the same ideology. How could you expect somebody with the same thinking to fight other people who are with the same thinking?” he said.
China has maintained friendly relations with the Afghan government but also has also hedged its bets, analysts say, with its ties with the Taliban. Last month’s visit by a Taliban delegation followed a similar one in 2019.
In receiving the Taliban officials in their traditional tunics and turbans, Wang called them a “significant military and political force” expected to play a key role in Afghanistan‘s reconstruction.
“As the Taliban gain inroads, China wants to maintain contact and ensure that it is not in the Talibans’ bad books, just in case they come to power,” said Yang Chaohui, a lecturer at the School of International Studies at Peking University.
“China would normally be wary of any grouping that operates on the basis of religious extremism, but it has no intention of fighting the Taliban, because it knows it has no chance of succeeding in what the United States and Soviet Union have both failed to do,” Yang said.
Qaem said he would prefer that China was fully behind the government but also said that Beijing was transparent about its engagement with the Taliban, informing the government before extending its invitation and briefing it afterwards.
“We have faith in the Chinese intentions,” he said.
Qaem said the Afghan government had not asked China to send troops to support it but it could help in other ways.
China could encourage Pakistan – which has long seen the Taliban as the best option for limiting the influence of old rival India in Afghanistan – to build trust with the Afghan government, Qaem said.
China could also serve as a conduit for messages from Kabul to the Taliban, as it was at last week’s meeting – relaying a government call for a ceasefire and an appeal for an inclusive political framework, he said.
China can also help in boosting trade and buying more Afghan products such as saffron, he said.
“So as long as that is provided, I don’t think China needs to send boots,” he said.
Bayat Foundation has announced it has distributed Ramadan aid packages to dozens of needy families in Bamyan province.
These aid packages include flour, oil, and rice, intending to assist those in need during the holy month of Ramadan.
Officials from the foundation stated that these donations will be extended to needy families in other provinces of the country by the end of Ramadan.
“As part of the Bayat Foundation’s ongoing assistance, today we are distributing Ramadan aid packages in Bamyan province. These packages contain flour, rice, and oil,” said Sayed Hakim, a representative of the Bayat Foundation in Bamyan.
Meanwhile, recipients of the aid have called on other charitable organizations to also rush to assist those in need during this month.
One recipient expressed gratitude: “Thanks to the Bayat Foundation for considering help for people like us.”
Another recipient added: “Thank you to the Bayat Foundation for helping us, and we hope that in the future, more aid will be provided to the poor people of Bamyan.”
In addition to supporting public welfare projects, healthcare, and those affected by natural disasters, the Bayat Foundation has been providing food and non-food aid to thousands of needy families in the center and provinces of Afghanistan during each Ramadan for nearly two decades.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry on Thursday called on the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) to take visible and verifiable action against militants who, it said, enjoy sanctuaries inside Afghanistan.
“Terrorist threat against Pakistan from terrorist entities including TTP, BLA and ISKP is our foremost concern,” Shafqat Ali Khan, Pakistan’s foreign ministry spokesperson, said. “We continue to impress upon interim authorities to take visible and verifiable action against them, keeping in view their commitments given to the international community to dismantle terrorist infrastructure and groups from the Afghan soil.”
Regarding Afghan refugees, he confirmed that the deadline for their deportation remains unchanged. Pakistan had set March 31 as the deadline for Afghan Citizenship Card holders and illegal foreigners to leave Pakistan voluntarily.
On border issues, Shafaqat Ali Khan informed that the Torkham border was reopened on Wednesday, with pedestrian travel allowed from Friday. The border will remain open until April 15, and a permanent solution is being sought. There won’t be any construction by Afghan side inside the Pakistani territory, he said.
On militancy, he said that Pakistan is taking robust actions, but it is impossible to completely seal off the border with Afghanistan.
IEA has previously rejected Pakistan’s claims that terrorists have sanctuaries in Afghanistan.
Acting Minister of Education Habibullah Agha says content contradicting religion and Afghan traditions will be removed from the curriculum, and that in addition to religious studies, the ministry is also focusing on modern sciences.
Marking the beginning of the 1404 academic year in Kabul, Habibullah Agha stressed that both religious and modern sciences are essential nowadays in Afghanistan.
He emphasized that the Islamic Emirate is committed to both fields of knowledge and urged people not to be deceived by negative propaganda.
“In this era, we have a great need to learn modern sciences. We must progress with these sciences and prepare ourselves to compete with the world,” said Agha.
He clarified that only through mastering modern sciences can the nation safeguard its people, government, health, and geography.
Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister for Administrative Affairs Abdul Salam Hanafi, who was also present at the event, reaffirmed the leadership’s commitment to fulfilling the Ministry of Education’s needs to establish a high-quality education system in Afghanistan.
Salam Hanafi stressed that the ministry must work to meet the country’s current educational demands.
He stated: “Enhancing teachers’ capabilities, addressing literacy issues, monitoring classroom activities, and improving the quality of both religious and public schools—these are the responsibilities of the Ministry of Education.”
Meanwhile, several government officials claimed that despite efforts by adversaries to tarnish the reputation of the IEA through a ‘cold war’, Afghanistan continues to make progress every day.
The 1404 academic year however began without reopening schools for girls above the sixth grade.
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