China has offered to host talks between the parties in Afghanistan in an effort to play greater role in the conflict hit country and the larger neighboring region.
China stepped up its diplomacy outreach with Pakistan and Afghanistan in the wake of the US troops withdrawal from the war-torn country, as Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in the last two-days held telephone talks with his Pakistani and Afghan counterparts.
Wang Yi said that China will back the Afghan government headed by Ashraf Ghani in playing a leading role. The offer to facilitate peace talks was made during Wang’s phone talks with his Afghan counterpart Mohammad Haneef Atmar on Monday.
Elaborating on their diplomatic outreach, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian told a media briefing in Beijing on Tuesday that “China is ready to facilitate intra-Afghan talks and will provide necessary conditions for holding talks in China.”
The US is expected to complete the withdrawal of its remaining 2,500 to 3,500 troops from Afghanistan by September, fueling Beijing’s concerns that any resulting instability would pose a security threat to its neighboring Xinjiang region which is predominantly Muslim.
Wang also called on all parties to support and implement relevant UN Security Council resolutions to promote a smooth transition of the Afghanistan situation, to avoid in particular a resurgence of terrorist forces, it said.
Wang’s call came one day after a similar offer to the Israelis and Palestinians as he hosted a virtual UN Security Council meeting to discuss the deadly hostilities in the Middle East.
Experts believe, it was a signal of Beijing’s intention to enhance its role in the region’s affairs, as part of its positioning as a global power.
Wang also said that the eight-member Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), of which India and Pakistan are members, should pay more attention to the situation and Afghanistan’s neighbors to strengthen communication, speak in one voice and take coordinated actions.
China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India and Pakistan are the SCO members.
China has been expressing its concern over the US move despite tensions with Washington on a host of issues, including America’s allegation of a genocide against Muslim Uygurs by the Chinese government in Xinjiang. It denies the allegations of running mass detention camps and violating human rights of Uygurs.
The previous Trump administration had also lifted a ban on the separatist East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM), a Uygur militant outfit active in Xinjiang.
The ETIM was designated as a terrorist organization by the UN’s 1267 counter-terrorism committee in 2002 for its alleged association with al-Qaida, Osama bin Laden and the Taliban.
China is concerned that hundreds of Uygur militants, who joined ISIS in Syria, could threaten the peace and stability in Xinjiang.
(Source: DD News)
Satish Chogule 
Sahana A 
Saisha Kamla Dudha