Afghanistan’s Taliban strive to expand regional links
Deutsche Welle :
Kabul witnessed a flurry of diplomatic activity at the end of January, with 11 countries accepting the Taliban’s invitation to attend an international conference dubbed “Afghanistan Regional Cooperation Initiative.”
The multilateral meeting was aimed at developing regional cooperation and was attended by representatives of countries like India, China, Russia, Pakistan and Iran, among others, according to Taliban authorities.
It wasn’t clear whether the gathering produced any concrete results. But the conference seems to underline the will of the Taliban regime to build good relations with neighboring countries.
The Islamic fundamentalist group can claim some initial success in its efforts to gain international recognition, like when China’s President Xi Jinping accepted the credentials of Mawlawi Asadullah Bilal Karimi, the Taliban-appointed Afghan ambassador, at the end of January.
China stressed that the diplomatic accreditation does not mean Beijing officially recognizes the current rulers in Afghanistan. Nevertheless, the two countries have moved closer together since the Taliban took power in August 2021.
According to a report by the media outlet Al Jazeera, several Chinese companies signed a series of business deals with the Taliban in 2023.
These include a 25-year oil production contract with an estimated investment value of $150 million in the first year, which would rise up to $540 million in the following three years.
Iran has also been cultivating closer relations with Kabul for years. Tehran named Iranian diplomat Hassan Kazemi Qomi as the country’s special envoy for Afghanistan in October 2021, just months after the Taliban takeover.
Even though the Iranian government has stopped short of recognizing the Taliban government, it has signaled it considers contacts with the Taliban to be beneficial for the entire region.
India appears to take a similar view, emphasizing political stability in the country.
These developments in the region reflect a trend toward diplomatic relations with the Taliban. According to a report by the think tank International Crisis Group, Afghanistan’s neighbors are increasingly in favor of moving closer to the regime in Kabul. “We can’t wait for the mood in the West to change in favor of the Taliban,” the ICG report quotes an unnamed diplomat from the region. “We are on the front line here.”