Taliban says China is a ‘good friend’, prepared for its investments in Afghanistan

Amidst the withdrawal of US forces from war-torn Afghanistan, the Taliban has mentioned that it sees China as a “friend” to Afghanistan and hoped that China invests within the reconstruction of the war-torn nation.
Speaking to South China Morning Post, Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen mentioned the unconventional Islamic group now controls 85 per cent of Afghan territory and would assure the security of Chinese buyers and staff. The feedback got here at a time when the Taliban has been making enormous territorial features within the war-torn nation amidst US forces’ withdrawal, threatening the progress the nation made within the final 20 years.
During the interview, Shaheen mentioned that the Taliban has assured China that it might not host Uyghur militants from the Xinjiang province, a few of whom had beforehand entered Afghanistan to flee from Chinese persecution. The Taliban would additionally forestall al-Qaeda or every other terrorist group from working there, he mentioned.
Reportedly, China is worried that Afghanistan, beneath Taliban rule, could turn into a hub for the East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM), a separatist outfit aligned to Al-Qaeda, which is main an insurgency in Xinjiang autonomous space. The northwest Xinjian area, which is dwelling to Uyghur Muslims, shares about an 8- km-long border with Afghanistan.
“We have been to China many times and we have good relations with them,” Suhail mentioned whereas chatting with Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post, as he recalled his frequent journeys to China as a part of Taliban delegations.
Taliban views China as a pleasant nation and we welcome it for reconstruction and creating Afghanistan, mentioned Suhail Shaheen, including that “If (the Chinese) have investments, of course, we will ensure their safety”.
China trying to make investments in Afghanistan
China is trying to make big-ticket investments in Afghanistan as it’s dwelling to one of many world’s largest unexploited reserves of copper, coal, iron, gasoline, cobalt, mercury, gold, lithium and thorium, valued at greater than US$ one trillion. China has already invested in oil exploration and mining in Afghanistan. In 2011, the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) gained a US$400 million contract to drill three oil fields for 25 years, containing about 87 million barrels of oil.
In addition, some Chinese corporations have additionally gained rights to mine copper at Mes Aynak in Logar province. However, observers consider that China will stay very cautious and anxious in regards to the Taliban delivering on its guarantees. Experts consider that China’s largest concern in its dealings with the Taliban will at all times be the Taliban’s oblique assist for was sheltering Uyghur Muslims.
The ongoing persecution towards Uyghurs in Xinjiang has angered the native Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang, who’re crossing the border in direction of Afghanistan. The US, the EU and several other worldwide human rights organisations have accused Beijing of committing genocide within the province, nonetheless, China is eager to maintain its Muslim inhabitants in examine for safety causes.Meanwhile, China has reacted strongly towards the US determination to tug out its troops with out attaining any substantial peace course of in Afghanistan. Earlier this week, China had requested its shut ally Pakistan to step up cooperation in Afghanistan to include the attainable safety dangers in Afghanistan after US forces withdraw.
“(China and Pakistan) need to defend regional peace together. Problems in Afghanistan are practical challenges that China and Pakistan both face,” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi mentioned on Tuesday, addressing a gathering of the seventieth anniversary of diplomatic relations with Pakistan.
It is anticipated that the withdrawal of American troops and resurgence of the Taliban will strategically profit China because the Taliban shares shut ties with Pakistan, one of many patrons of the unconventional Islamic terror group, which now maintain energy within the warn-torn nation.
Taliban takes management of Afghanistan after US forces pull out, India evacuates its residents
As the US forces put together to exit Afghanistan after 20 years because the 9/11 assaults, the Taliban takes management of a minimum of 85 per cent of the war-torn nation. According to native officers, Taliban fighters, stirred by the withdrawal, have already captured very important districts throughout the nation.
Thousands of Afghan safety personnel and refugees have continued to flee from Afghanistan throughout the border to neighbouring international locations of Iran and Tajikistan, inviting giant scale humanitarian considerations. The disaster has fuelled a priority the world over in regards to the imminent takeover of the nation by the unconventional Islamic group, whose members may infiltrate Central and South Asian international locations.
In the view of the Taliban fighters quickly seizing management of the area, triggering safety considerations, the Indian authorities is taking needed precautionary measures and have evacuated round 50 diplomats, and different employees members working on the Kandahar consulate in Afghanistan.
In the wake of a safety risk, the Indian authorities has additionally quickly closed the Kandahar consulate. The personnel have been flown out on an Air Force aircraft. Earlier, the Ministry of External Affairs mentioned India was fastidiously monitoring the deteriorating safety scenario in Afghanistan and its implications on the security and safety of Indian nationals.
Numerous Taliban terrorists, joined by Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, have been current within the southern provinces of Kandahar and Helmand. This has resulted within the Indian authorities’s determination to tug out the diplomats and safety personnel from town. According to a latest estimate, greater than 7,000 Lashkar fighters are combating alongside the Taliban in southern Afghanistan.