After one year since the US’ chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Taliban is inching closer toward America’s international adversaries, primarily China and Russia.
Strategic experts believe the Biden administration’s move to kill the Al-Qaeda leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, in a drone strike in Afghanistan created more differences between the US government and the Taliban.
America’s Rivals Ready to Embrace Taliban
America withdrew its forces from Afghanistan under the Doha agreement of 2020, according to which the Taliban must not breed any extremist organization in Afghanistan.
However, the US claims the Taliban is giving breathing space to different terror outfits, including ISIS-K and Al-Qaeda. This led America to kill the Al-Qaeda leader in a drone strike, but the Taliban condemned the attack on their soil.
Previously, the Biden administration hesitated to give humanitarian aid to the Taliban-led Afghanistan, fearing that the aid would be used to empower terrorist organizations.
Similarly, the US, and its international allies, are not establishing diplomatic relations with the Taliban government. All of this is creating differences between the US and Afghanistan, which is pushing the Taliban towards China and Russia.
Both China and Russia have publicly shown a willingness to cooperate with the Taliban one year after the fall of Kabul. https://t.co/ak6Yfoxon6
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) August 16, 2022
Meanwhile, the Chinese envoy to the United Nations, Zhang Jun, said on Monday the world should engage with new rulers of Afghanistan to give them confidence and guidance.
Zhang added the US should fulfill its responsibilities after withdrawing its forces from the war-torn country.
Furthermore, the Biden administration should immediately release the $9 billion of funds from Afghanistan, as seizing the funds of any country is not the right approach, Zhang added.
Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi recently visited Afghanistan and met the senior leadership of the extremist organization. This move of the communist nation urged strategic experts to believe China would eventually accept the Taliban government.
A former official of the Chinese army, Zhou Bo, indicated Chinese companies could start investing in Afghanistan, which would bring China and Afghanistan closer to each other.
"Given how #China, Russia, and Iran see ISIS-K as a far graver threat than al-Qaeda, these countries will “have at least some sympathy” for the IEA “as long as the Taliban continues to fight against [ISIS-K]” said Anatol Lieven,…https://t.co/zbPgk8pXvC
— William Yang (@WilliamYang120) August 16, 2022
All American Adversaries United
Russia is adopting the same soft-hearted stance towards the Taliban government in Afghanistan.
Zamir Kabulov, the special envoy of Russia to Afghanistan, recently argued Russia is likely to accept the government of Afghanistan and reserved grain for the war-torn country as the hunger crisis is forcing children to starve.
According to a report from the United Nations, nearly half the population of Afghanistan is facing acute hunger; so any country which helps them in getting out of the crisis will come in the good books of the Taliban.
Some political observers claim Russia might not have enough money to give to the Taliban, due to its ongoing war with Ukraine.
However, China can step forward to establish unbreakable ties with the extremist organization, which will unite all the regional adversaries of the United States.
Whenever this happens, America will face renewed challenges of tackling all rivals at once, which will create new strategic hurdles for the US government.
This article appeared in TheDailyBeat and has been published here with permission.
