- Best bet for peace in the region
China has been emerging as a major power bringing peace between Pakistan and Afghanistan. This significantly matters as worrying nations could defuse mutual tension. China’s relation with Pakistan are utmost pleasant. The recent China-Pakistan-Afghanistan dialogue in Kabul was the most significant peace process held in years. China and Pakistan discussed new changes in Afghanistan.
Both sides believe that military alone cannot solve all issues in Afghanistan. In case the US withdraws part of its contingent, China and Pakistan need to also chalk out their plan. President Donald Trump has promised to withdraw its 7,000 troops from Afghanistan. The Pentagon has not announced any such plan yet publically.
Meanwhile, China has been using its influence to make a change inside Afghanistan. The purpose is to make friendship between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Meeting in Beijing, the Chinese government’s top diplomat, State Councillor Wang Yi and Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had a “deep discussion about new changes to the situation in Afghanistan and reached a consensus.” “Both sides believe that military means cannot resolve the Afghanistan issue, and promoting political reconciliation is the only realistic way,” it said in a short statement.
Wang Yi visited Kabul earlier in the month of December, where he pledged to help Afghanistan and Pakistan overcome their long-standing suspicions of each other. China’s main concern of Afghanistan is its situation in Uygur-dominated Xinjiang region where there is Afghan influence and that must be mitigated. China has to see how to look after Afghanistan after the post-American withdrawal, if not complete.
Beijing approves of greater cooperation on security and is willing to provide support and help to both Pakistan and Afghanistan to improve ties. The long-standing suspicion between Pakistan and Afghanistan could be resolved by China. Being non-committal, China has better option inside Afghanistan than any other country. Not only China, but the United States also acknowledges Pakistan’s role in Afghanistan. For Beijing, tranquility of Afghanistan is essential to bring peace there and help implement Beijing’s multi-billion Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
Beijing has the capacity to look after this whole area and help secure it. The Afghan government has been seeking a plan to overcome its border difficulties with China
Any direct talks with the Taliban look essential to break this deadlock. If Beijing is included in the peace process, it look that not too much Islamic militant governance would not be imposed in Kabul but an Islamic regime with having good ties with Beijing and the outside world be possible. Beijing would not invite a strict government in Afghanistan and keep its hold over Xinjiang.
Beijing is desparate to have any deal with Pakistan and also Afghanistan to have a peace process. To fight terrorism in Afghanistan, Beijing is ready to implement any such plan. Maulana Samiul Haq, a religious leader in Pakistan and long be regarded as the spiritual head of the Taliban inside Pakistan once, said that China would be welcomed as an arbitrator in negotiations and shouldn’t leave matters of such a great importance solely to the US. He was assassinated inside Pakistan in November.
China is helping Afghanistan to set up a mountain brigade in the country’s north to boost counter-terrorism efforts but “there will be no Chinese military personnel of any kind on Afghan soil at any time”. The Embassy of China in Afghanistan said the Afghan government appreciated China’s assistance and that the countries’ militaries were working in close coordination, without giving further details.
Sources close to the Chinese military earlier told that China had funded and started building a training camp for Afghan troops in Afghanistan’s isolated Wakhan Corridor – a narrow strip of inhospitable and barely accessible land extending about 350km from the northern Afghan province of Badakhshan to China’s Muslim region of Xinjiang. People’s Army would be assisting the Afghan army in this concern.
War-torn Afghanistan has become increasingly important for China’s own security, as well as Belt and Road Initiative, a huge trade and infrastructure plan. Kabul is next door to China and Beijing will take full control of this post.
Beijing has the capacity to look after this whole area and help secure it. The Afghan government has been seeking a plan to overcome its border difficulties with China. As many positive developments have been taking place, time would be there to tackle the Afghan irritant.
China has been undertaking its anti-terrorist activities, and now it time to work with other countries in a befitting manner. Looking at Xinjiang and its separatist movement, it is in China’s own interest to offer any loan package to Afghanistan to disband any terrorist activity in the region. Once the Taliban were overcome, there is no possibility of any sort of terrorism inside Afghanistan and whole country will become a symbol of peace in the region.
