Why The Russian and Chinese have not closed their Embassy

Pakistan’s ambassador at the United Nations said U.S. President Joe Biden’s endorsement of the previous American administrations’ decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan was “a logical conclusion to this conflict.” Munir Akram told reporters at U.N. headquarters in New York on Monday that the international community must now work together “to ensure an inclusive political settlement for a long-term peace, security and development of Afghanistan.” Pakistan’s stance is “that the conflict in Afghanistan never had a military solution”

Leaders of a number of Afghan political parties and groups “representing all the multiethnic groups apart from the Pashtuns” are in Pakistan’s capital and met with the foreign minister and other leaders there on Monday. and Tuesday . Pakistan said it will work with them and with Taliban representatives to advance the goal of an inclusive political government.

Meanwhile there is chaos and violence at Kabu Airport , with deaths reported as Afghans desperately try to leave the country in the wake of the Taliban’s rapid takeover. US troops are in position to facilitate the evacuation of American and other allied civilians and diplomatic staff, including some Afghans, with the military section of the airport secure for now. The UK has acknowledged that some Afghans who worked with Western forces will be left behind.

Senior Taliban leader Amir Khan Muttaqi is said to be in the Afghan capital negotiating with Kabul’s political leadership, including Abdullah Abdullah, who once headed the country’s negotiating council, and former President Hamid Karzai.

But while many foreign embassies are shutting down, Russia and China are retaining staff in their diplomatic missions in Kabul. In effect, they are preparing to deal directly with the Taliban on its home turf, while their global rivals walk away.

Russia Needs Afghan as buffer one

Russia has only partially evacuated embassy staff in Kabul, and its ambassador, Dmitry Zhirnov, met Taliban leaders (on Aug. 17). According to Russian foreign ministry official and presidential envoy to Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov, the Taliban has secured the Russian compound.

“We will carefully see how responsibly they govern the country in the near future,” “And based on the results, the Russian leadership will draw the necessary conclusions.” the Russian Official said

The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979 and withdrew a decade later, shortly before the collapse of the USSR. The Taliban then filled the power vacuum. Today, Afghanistan is still a strategic location for Russia, which has a military base in neighboring Tajikistan. Russia needs Afghanistan to act as a buffer to protect its interests from the volatile West Asian region of Iran, Iraq and Syria.

China Needs for Strategic and Mining Compulsion.

In 1993, after the Soviet-backed government of Afghanistan collapsed, China evacuated its embassy in Kabul. This time, China has made no plans to evacuate embassy staff from Kabul. It has already signaled its willingness to recognise  a Taliban government. The idea of “non-interference” is a key plank of Chinese foreign policy; officially it is treating the Taliban takeover as a domestic development.

Late last month China’s foreign minister Wang Yi welcomed a delegation of Taliban representatives, calling the group “a crucial military and political force” in Afghanistan. The meeting struck even some within China as odd, given the country is engaged in an oppressive campaign against Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang, which it says is intended to battle Islamic extremism. Xinjiang shares a short border with Afghanistan, but the gathering was preceded by a Taliban assurance that it would not allow the country to be used as a base for attacks on China.

A Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Beijing hopes the Taliban will honor past promises to help establish an “open, inclusive ” government.

China said it is deeply concerned about instability in Afghanistan. It has invested billions of Yen  in a port and other infrastructure in neighboring Pakistan as an anchor of its Belt and Road project, which has benefited from the US presence in Afghanistan argues Kamran Bokhari, national security specialist at the University of Ottawa’s Professional Development Institute. Chinese companies have also invested in mining in Afghanistan, though these projects have not much progressed .

Author: Group Captain R K Das(Retd)