Afghanistan would become a “pariah state” if the Taliban take control by force, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday, as a top-level delegation from the insurgent group visited China to assure officials of their international obligations. “An Afghanistan that does not respect the rights of its people, an Afghanistan that commits atrocities against its own people would become a pariah state,” Blinken told reporters in India, where he is on his first official visit. In China, the Taliban’s leadership assured Beijing the group will not allow Afghanistan to be used as a base for plotting against another country.

A delegation including co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar is in China for talks as the insurgents continue a sweeping offensive across Afghanistan including areas along their shared border. Their frontier is just 76 kilometres (47 miles) long and at a rugged high altitude without a road crossing — but Beijing fears Afghanistan could be used as a staging ground for Uyghur separatists in Xinjiang.

Taliban spokesman Mohammad Naeem told AFP those concerns were unfounded. “The Islamic Emirate assured China that Afghanistan’s soil would not be used against any country’s security.” “They (China) promised not to interfere in Afghanistan’s affairs, but instead help to solve problems and bring peace.” Beijing confirmed the thrust of the talks, which were led on the Chinese side by Foreign Minister Wang Yi. But in Kabul Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani urged the international community “to review the narrative of the willingness of the Taliban and their supporters on embracing a political solution.” “In terms of scale, scope and timing, we are facing an invasion that is unprecedented in the last 30 years,” he warned in a speech Wednesday. “These are not the Taliban of the 20th century… but the manifestation of the nexus between transnational terrorist networks and transnational criminal organisations.” In Delhi, Blinken warned the Taliban they would have to change if they wanted global acceptance.

The Taliban, meanwhile, would consider China a crucial source of investment and economic support. “By getting the Chinese on their side, the Chinese would be able to provide them with diplomatic cover at the Security Council,” Australia-based Afghanistan expert Nishank Motwani told AFP. “It is important to note… when other countries open up their doors and engage with the Taliban it undercuts the legitimacy of the Afghan government and presents the Taliban almost as a government in waiting.”

News Source : Times of India