The Taliban’s diplomatic future

Goodwill towards all, except Israel

Since the Taliban took over Afghanistan, it has become a hot topic of discussion how many countries would recognize the Taliban regime. It has been known for two decades that the Taliban’s Afghanistan was the only country in the world facing the strictest sanctions on aid, travel, diplomacy business, militarily, weapons proliferation and various resources. After bringing the superpower, the USA, and its allies to their knees and conquering Afghanistan in 11 days without firing a single shot, and without throwing the entire country into turmoil, the world began to look at them from a different perspective. These people, who had long been neglected, are now having a table talk with world-class diplomats and the various media outlets that are writing the headlines around the globe.

The Taliban recently announced the formation of their government in the name of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Immediately after this declaration, they have started formulating their foreign policy, though they are termed terrorists. However, it seems that they are not neglected by the leading countries that are willing to look forward. Instead, countries like China, Russia, Pakistan and Turkey have proved to be big supporters for them since the last few months in spite of a huge dismissal of Afghanistan’s assets in the shape of frozen accounts by the USA.

Amid the entangled reactions of the international community over not considering the current Taliban government in Afghanistan, ZabihullahMujahid, the Taliban Spokesperson, has called on the international community to reopen its embassies in Kabul on the other hand,Maulvi Shahabuddin Delawar, head of the Taliban’s political office in Qatar thanked countries that have not closed their embassies in Afghanistan. Likewise it seems from their press conferences  that  The Taliban are ready to work with the USA after toppling the 20-year-old Western-backed government last month, just as US President Joe Biden was finalizing a withdrawal to end the longest US war, as the Taliban stated “Yes, of course, in a new chapter, if America wants to have a relation with us, which could be in the interest of both countries and both peoples, and if they want to participate in the reconstruction of Afghanistan, they are welcome.”

The recent declaration largely echoed a statement made by Taliban spokesman Sohail Shaheen who, speaking to Russian news channel Sputnik, said, “We want diplomatic relations with all countries in the world except Israel.”

If we take a look, we can easily see that Pakistan was the only country that denied the existence of Israel. Since the inception of Pakistan, the Quaide Azam stood up for Palestine in the Arab-Israeli conflict and played a central role in fighting for the voice of Palestinians in the Subcontinent.

A day before the proclamation of the new Afghan government, Pakistan’s DG  ISI Lt Gen Faiz Hameed paid a successful visit to Afghanistan, which has created a stir everywhere; as it is clear that the new government could not be formed without Pakistan’s input. Moreover, India and other spoilers have declared the Afghan government as a pro-Pakistan government.

Pakistan has been a key player in this process. Without Pakistan’s help, none of this would have been possible. This was recognized by all international strategists. Pakistan’s policy was already clear before the world after the “Absolutely Not” statement about US bases on Pakistani soil was remarked by Prime Minister Imran Khan. Pakistan played a crucial role in the peace agreement between the USA and the Taliban by getting the two countries to sit together in Doha where the entire talks took place and the Doha Agreement was signed

It is a fact that conspiracies and rumours are hitting the ground that Pakistan alone is responsible for this. It is only because of Pakistan’s pressure that the new Afghan government has decided not to recognize Israel. The Afghan government has already stated that neither Pakistan helped in conquering the whole of Afghanistan in 11 days, nor did Pakistan relent in forming the Afghan government.

At this moment in time, the most important question being asked all over the media is why the world, including the USA, needs to recognize the new Afghan government. Yes, it is necessary for various countries to restore their relations with the Taliban government, because there are tons of natural resources there that the world needs, and the dependence of advanced countries will be the last of those resources.

One of the most important resources already declared by the US report is lithium. CNN Business stated that Afghanistan has most of the lithium in the whole world. It stated that the USA only knows trillions of dollars of lithium, and can predict trillions of more lithium, which is unofficially announced. The specialty of lithium is that it is used in rechargeable batteries like Mobile Phone, laptops, cameras and all other products. In the coming years, it will be all about the rechargeable batteries as Joe-Biden recently announced that all cars in the USA will be converted to electric cars. So, no more excessive oil, petrol and diesel and such stuff  is going to be bought and consumed in the future and most of the Arab countries whose economy is solely dependent on oil will suffer, which is an alarming situation for them. This was just one of the major examples of Afghanistan’s natural resources, but the country has countless other resources such as copper, gold, coal, rubies and many other precious stones, steel and much more.

This is one of the reasons why China has been committed to Afghanistan. Another important reason is that Afghanistan is located in a geostrategic position where it is easy for China to conduct its trade with the world at low cost and time. Beijing remains willing to provide resources commensurate with its significant stake in provincial stability and its efforts to make the Shanghai Cooperation Organization an important tool.

Likewise, Russia is also proving to be a big supporter of the Taliban government. Recently, Russia, along with China, has directly asked the USA to release and unfreeze the Afghan assets. The most important question to ask is why Russia, which as the USSR was fighting with these people two decades ago, is now turning out to be a big supporter of them? This is because Moscow now hopes to increase its tactical presence in this Central Asian region.

Since Russia is an ally of China, it also wanted to support them because of the new bloc against the USA. Russia focused mainly on Afghanistan’s three neighbors in Central Asia, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. These countries will be forced to varying degrees to recognize Moscow’s help, which is possible only if peace prevails in the region.

Pakistan has been a key player in this process. Without Pakistan’s help, none of this would have been possible. This was recognized by all international strategists. Pakistan’s policy was already clear before the world after the “Absolutely Not” statement about US bases on Pakistani soil was remarked by Prime Minister Imran Khan. Pakistan played a crucial role in the peace agreement between the USA and the Taliban by getting the two countries to sit together in Doha where the entire talks took place and the Doha Agreement was signed.

It is very important for Afghanistan to be peaceful as the spoilers are desperate to destabilize the region. India has lost its mind in its talk shows and is forging illegal strategies to destabilize Afghanistan once again in order to create chaos in Panjshir by facilitating them with weapons and money. Their defense strategist Major GouravArya, is helping to shape Indian minds by linking this Islamic group with the Kashmir issue. Addressing the media, he warned everyone in India that the Taliban may attack Kashmir next, which is not possible without Pakistan’s will.

Peace is very important because groups like the TTP, ISIS, BLA and Black Water operatives may conjure up a new event like 9/11 which will plunge the world into a new war and Pakistan in particular would again face the same terrible consequences as faced in the past.

Muhammad Ebtesam
Muhammad Ebtesam
The writer is a freelance columnist

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