Taliban took control of the capital city of Afghanistan, Kabul, on Sunday, 15th August, soon after President Ashraf Ghani fled the country, leaving the presidential palace. He told the public through his social media handle about his leaving the country to avoid bloodshed. Taliban kept advancing towards Afghanistan for the past few years, and according to the US officials, they miscalculated about how fast they were moving. Antony Blinken, Secretary of the State, said, “The fact of the matter is we’ve seen that that force has been unable to defend the country … and that has happened more quickly than we anticipated.”
After the Taliban took over Kabul, it is just a matter of time that China will be facing nightmares. On Monday, China’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Hua Chunying said, “The situation in Afghanistan has undergone major changes and China respects the wishes and choices of the Afghan people. The war has lasted over 40 years. To stop the war and realize peace is the voice of the over 30 million Afghan people and aspiration of the international community and regional countries.
We noted the statement from the Afghan Taliban yesterday [Sunday] saying the war is over and that they will start consultations for establishing an open, inclusive Islamic government, and will take necessary action to ensure the safety of Afghan citizens and the foreign diplomatic corps. We expect the Taliban to fulfill its commitment to ensure a smooth transition of the situation in Afghanistan, curb all kinds of terrorism and criminal acts, keep the Afghan people away from wars and rebuild their beautiful homeland “.
Also, when asked whether China will recognize the new regime of the Taliban, Hua replied, “China stands ready to develop good-neighborly, friendly and cooperative relations with Afghanistan, and to play a constructive role in the peace and reconstruction of Afghanistan.”
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China’s media attacked the US military troops in their editorial by calling their action “messy failure”. It said, “United States troops entered Afghanistan two decades back in the name of a ‘war on terror. The U.S. then attempted to build a modern Afghan state. While the former hardly qualifies as the victory President Joe Biden claimed, its attempts at the latter are an unmistakable, unfolding, messy failure,”. Joe Biden also rejected the accusation of being responsible for the chaos that occurred in Kabul where Afghan locals were seen clinging to the US military plane to flee from the country. Chinese state councilor Wang Yi, on a telephone conversation with Blinken, said, “The US hastily withdrawing its troops… has already had a serious negative impact on the situation in Afghanistan,”
Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri, Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokesperson, also commented on the ongoing situation of Afghanistan, “extending necessary assistance to Pakistanis, Afghan nationals and the diplomatic and international community for consular work and coordination of [the Pakistani state-owned airline’s] flights”.
India managed to evacuate the second batch of diplomats, journalists, and officials from Kabul, after over 24 hours of negotiations. Indian Air Force C-17 heavy-lift aircraft flew from Hamid Karzai Airport with the help of US forces guarding the air traffic control.
