Anjana Pasricha VOA News August 30, 2021 NEW DELHI – Less than six years ago, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Afghanistan’s Parliament building in Kabul — a landmark symbol of the fledgling democracy that New Delhi hoped would become a hedge against its rival, Pakistan. But with the dramatic power shift after the Taliban
Time: Today, in the wake of the U.S. withdrawal, Chinese strategists are thinking bigger, and eyeing deals to exploit Afghanistan’s mineral deposits. An Afghan parallel to the China Pakistan Economic Corridor—the $50 billion development of factories, power plants and pipelines from Kashgar in Xinjiang province to the Pakistani port of Gwadar in the Persian Gulf—might
Bruce Pannier Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty August 24, 2021 There has been a good deal of speculation about how the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan and the dramatic change of power there will affect Central Asia’s relations with the big powers. Some say Russia’s presence in the region will be strengthened, or perhaps China’s,
Reid Standish Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty August 20, 2021 The sudden takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban ahead of the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the country has left China facing a precarious mix of opportunity and risk as it prepares to deal with the new power brokers in Kabul. Only hours after the Taliban took control
Nike Ching VOA News August 17, 2021 WASHINGTON – With the U.S. military drawdown in Afghanistan, China says it is ready to move ahead in its relations with the Taliban, but foreign policy experts say Beijing remains apprehensive about what comes next and may not devote a vast security and economic commitment to Afghanistan in
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty August 17, 2021 India has become the latest major country to evacuate its embassy in Kabul, leaving only a handful of embassies from global and regional powers operating in the Afghan capital as the top U.S. diplomat in Kabul dismissed reports that he had left the country. The Russian, Chinese, and
Ayaz Gul VOA News July 28, 2021 ISLAMABAD – Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi reportedly pressed the leaders of Afghanistan’s insurgent Taliban group Wednesday to “make a clean break” from all terrorists, including the anti-China East Turkistan Islamic Movement, or ETIM, during a meeting he hosted. Officials from both sides said Taliban deputy political chief
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty July 28, 2021 The Taliban says a nine-member delegation led by Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the co-founder of the militant group, has held talks with Chinese officials in Beijing. “Politics, the economy and issues related to the security of both countries and the current situation of Afghanistan and the peace process
By Reid Standish Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty July 20, 2021 As U.S. troops draw down in Afghanistan, Chinese officials have stepped up contacts with the Taliban as it surges across the country and builds strategic footholds against Afghan government forces. On paper, Beijing and the Taliban are strange bedfellows. China is an atheistic, communist state that
Reid Standish Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty July 14, 2021 As the security situation in Afghanistan worsens, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has begun a high-profile tour of Central Asia that analysts say is an effort by Beijing to boost its interests in the region. The weeklong visit to Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan comes as the