Afghanistan Crisis: Hard for World, ‘Recognize’ Taliban

Maha Siddiqui
New Delhi. Before becoming President of the United States, Donald Trump considered the ongoing war in Afghanistan completely useless. During the 2001 presidential election, his campaign promised that American troops would return and that American money would not be wasted in Afghanistan. A year before the next election in 2020, his administration stepped up its efforts. As a result, the United States began direct talks with the Taliban. The United States has not only begun direct talks with the Taliban’s political leadership in Doha, but has also sidelined the Afghan government led by then-President Ashraf Ghani at a crucial juncture.

Ashraf Ghani’s brother Hashmat Ghani made the same allegation while talking to CNN-News1to after the Taliban took over Kabul. He said, ‘We have always been fighting others and the Afghans were fighting among themselves. Trump made a deal directly with the Taliban, removed the government and now he wants Afghans to fight among themselves.

Many believe the US deal was the first step in legitimizing the Taliban. On February 2, 2020, the United States and the Taliban signed the Doha Agreement, although the United States did not recognize the Taliban in its agreement.

If America made a deal …
When Indian officials began admitting in July this year that they were trying to contact the Taliban’s top political leadership in Doha, CNN-News18 asked a source if there were ever concerns that they would be allowed to negotiate with the Taliban. He then said that if America had made an agreement with him, the question of legitimacy would not have arisen.

China has held open talks with the Taliban leadership. The Taliban released a photo and statement of Wang Yi’s meeting with Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Chinese Taliban’s political leader, during the war with the elected Gani government and the Afghan army. “Afghanistan belongs to the Afghan people, and its future should be in the hands of its own people,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry said after the meeting. “The Afghan people now have an important opportunity to achieve national stability and development,” China said. The statement came on July 28, a week before the Taliban overthrew the Ghani government. China has already indicated in its statement that it considers the Taliban legitimate.

The embassies of China and Russia will remain open
China was one of the handful of countries that kept its embassy in Kabul open. The Russian embassy in Kabul is also open and the Russians are in talks with the Taliban. The Russian envoy to Kabul met with the Taliban after capturing the capital and described the meeting as “friendship.” Roman Babushkin, deputy head of the Russian mission in India, highlighted the difference between working with the Taliban and recognizing them. He said that if the Taliban were to be recognized, “the first step should be to reduce the number of sensations in the UN Security Council.”

During the first Taliban government in 1996, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia recognized the previous Taliban regime, despite confusion at the United Nations. The United States, meanwhile, has questioned the legitimacy of the Taliban. In an interview with CNN’s Jake Topper, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said, “We can work with and recognize the future Afghan government that upholds the fundamental rights of its people, not harbors terrorists.” Huh. So when Indian Ambassador to Qatar Deepak Mittal met with Taliban political leader Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai in Doha on Tuesday, the government immediately released details of the meeting.

However, sources say, this should in no way be seen as a recognition of India by the Taliban. When CNN News-1 Foreign asked Foreign Ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi why the Taliban wanted a meeting with the Indian ambassador in Doha, he said he did not want to speculate. He added that it is believed that the Afghan group is reaching out to countries interested in these countries. Perhaps there is another reason why the Taliban want more legitimacy.

Diplomats and political leaders in different countries are using the same phrase – “We will see the work of the Taliban, not their demands.” But almost all countries are in wait and see mode. Can the terms currently used – ‘working together, legitimacy and recognition’ – put pressure on the Taliban?