After the Afghan Taliban participated in the third Doha meeting, the West is expected to lift economic restrictions on the interim government, and after the meeting, the Afghan Taliban also rarely "named and praised" the United States.
Unlike the previous two special sessions, the Taliban interim government of Afghanistan was not excluded, but successfully sent delegations to participate in the meeting and had very formal diplomatic contacts with representatives of various countries.
On the second day of the meeting, the Taliban announced that after the Doha meeting, the West's economic restrictions on the interim government are expected to be lifted, and at the same time specially praised the positions of the representatives of China, Russia, and the United States, as well as Iran, Pakistan and other countries surrounding Afghanistan, which are also within the scope of gratitude. From this, we can infer that all of these countries must have played a key role in this matter.
(Ulla Mujahid, spokesman of the interim government, also praised the positions of the representatives of China, the United States, Russia and other countries at the meeting)
It is not surprising that the Afghan Taliban are grateful to China and Russia, but it is relatively rare for the Afghan Taliban to "praise the United States by name". After the United States hastily withdrew its troops from Afghanistan, it quickly seized $7 billion of Afghanistan's assets in the United States.
The Biden administration then signed an executive order splitting the seized assets into two parts, one of which $3.5 billion will be distributed to the families of 9/11 victims, and the other will be used to provide humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people.
Regardless of how high-sounding it is, it is an indisputable fact that the United States is unwilling to return these $7 billion in assets in its own hands.
In recent years, the Taliban and the Biden administration have negotiated for the retention of assets, but they have not come up with a reason. In addition, the United States has mobilized other Western countries to encircle Afghanistan economically, which has further complicated the situation and created unnecessary troubles for neighboring countries to solve the Afghan issue.
China and Russia's position on this issue has always been clear, naming the West as unilateral sanctions that do not help solve the Afghan problem, and have been pushing for the "unfreezing" of Afghanistan's $7 billion in assets. Therefore, it is a natural result that the Taliban appreciated the position of China and Russia at the Doha meeting.
The fact that the name of the United States is also alongside that of China and Russia is more intriguing, which may indicate that the United States may have loosened its stance on the interim government. Even if the $7 billion is not so easy to return, at least there will be no new sanctions on Afghanistan.
The reason is not complicated, after the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, if the Biden administration still wants to maintain influence in Afghanistan, sooner or later it will have to deal with the interim government formed by the Taliban, so it is not surprising that there has been a change in position.
(Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov)
Countries surrounding Afghanistan are also considering ways to deal with the interim government, and not long ago, Kazakhstan officially removed the Taliban from the list of "terrorist organizations" in order to seek development and economic cooperation with Afghanistan.
Russia is also advancing in this matter, and now it is waiting for Putin's final decision. In addition, at the beginning of this year, China officially accepted the credentials submitted by the Afghan interim government.
All this shows that the attitude of neighboring countries towards the Afghan Taliban is very pragmatic, and this attitude is worthy of extensive reference by the international community. The current political realities in Afghanistan dictate that in order to resolve the Afghan problem, it is necessary to deal with the interim government.
So as neighboring countries begin to figure out how to engage with the Taliban, the West will not be left behind. The Taliban's economic restrictions are expected to be lifted after the Doha meeting, which is a manifestation of the international community's pragmatic approach to Afghanistan. To put it another way, the United States has loosened its stance on this issue, and it is also thinking of competing with China and Russia, and will not sit idly by and watch Afghanistan fall to either China or Russia
(Afghanistan is an important node country on the continent through West Asia)
Although the Doha meeting has made a "good start," the Afghan interim government should not be too happy, and the lifting of unilateral sanctions against Afghanistan is aimed at better resolving the Afghan issue and preventing the Taliban from returning to the old path, which is a painstaking effort by neighboring countries.
It is necessary to add that the key to China's current positive attitude towards the interim government is not how the Taliban behave, but the importance of Afghanistan, and the difference between the two is still very large. Afghanistan is an important neighbor in the western part of the continent, and an important node country in the mainland's "Belt and Road" initiative to Central Asia, West Asia and other regions. For China, the stabilization of the situation in Afghanistan and the normalization of the Afghan interim government are of strategic importance to the western security of the continent and to the passage through Western Asia.
On the whole, China's approach to dealing with Afghanistan is to coordinate with neighboring countries, gradually guide the interim government to adapt to the change in identity, and finally remove the word "temporary". At the same time, the Taliban should not forget the promises made to neighboring countries at the beginning of their coming to power.
(On the issue of counter-terrorism, it is hoped that the interim government will correct its mentality towards "terrorism" as soon as possible.)
At the same time, the issue of counter-terrorism remains one of the top priorities of the Afghan Interim Administration. The Interim Government must not indulge or despise terrorist activities in any way, and Afghanistan must not once again become a hotbed of extremism. The stability of the situation in Afghanistan will have a direct impact on the security of neighboring countries and, more importantly, on the security of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. Therefore, China will not take the Afghan issue lightly.
Now the Afghan Taliban should not rush to express their gratitude, the real challenges are still ahead, and it is also a hard work to continue to fulfill those previous commitments. Neighboring countries, including China, have always demanded the Taliban in Afghanistan, that is, to govern inclusively, moderately, and respect the security concerns of all countries. If the Afghan Taliban do not learn the lessons of the past, it will only be a matter of time before they repeat the mistakes of the past.