China’s Dilemma Continues Even After announcement of Afghan interim Government
Taliban factions have finally come to an agreement and have announced an interim government. The Prime Ministership has been given to Mullah Hasan Akhund. His name was announced as prime minister of Afghanistan’s caretaker government on Tuesday, with Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar and Abdul Salam Hanafi named as the acting deputy prime ministers, media reported.
Sarajuddin Haqqani, will be the acting interior minister, the Taliban’s main spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, informed during a news conference in Kabul. He is the son of the founder of the Haqqani network designated as a terrorist organization by the US. Similarly son of the late Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad Omar, Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, has been appointed as the acting defense minister.
It was not clear what role in the interim government would be played by Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban supreme leader. He has not been seen or heard in public since the collapse of the Western-backed government and the seizure of Kabul last month, Reuters reported.
The structure of the new government shows that the Taliban will dominate all key positions. They want to take control but meanwhile are hoping to present an inclusive image to the world. The Taliban have stressed that it would build an open and inclusive government with a moderate approach and would not become a haven for terrorist organizations. But they face difficulties in establishing a political structure by both the Taliban and non-Taliban.
At this stage Taliban will prioritize solving internal problems rather than responding expectations from the international community, said a Chinese analysts. The Taliban might share some grass-root positions with non-Taliban forces in the country as per the analysts.
However, many of these Taliban senior members are on the UN sanctions list, which remains a major concern for the international community and also increases difficulty for this interim government to be recognized widely and restore normal international exchanges, said the Chinese analysts, adding that China will keep paying attention to the situation and will not change its position of urging the Taliban to keep what was promised.
An expert on counterterrorism and Afghan affairs in Beijing has said that “due to the previous terrorist attacks at the Kabul airport, the IS-Khorasan is the terrorist group that the Taliban can decide to cut off, but the Taliban is unlikely to deal with all terrorists in Afghanistan with the same standard. The Taliban may keep some terrorists in the country as bargaining chips to make deals with other neighboring countries and major powers worldwide, so it is unrealistic to expect the Taliban to have a clear and absolute cutoff with all terrorists in Afghanistan at this moment.”
The Afghan Taliban are hoping to join in the UN, but the decision to appoint some on UN’s sanctions list as senior key ministers in its interim government may create more difficulties for it to communicate with the international community.
Many senior officials in the new interim government are on the UN sanctions list, which means it will be more difficult for it to deal with the international community and the West.
It seems Afghan Taliban are taking hoping to consolidate the domestic political situation first and later start to gradually promote international relations. Whatever be the reasons for the decisions of the new interim government, the Afghan Taliban still have a long way to go in either solving domestic problems or dealing with international ties.
Given the complex history and situation in Afghanistan, there is a great deal of uncertainty whether Taliban can have a clean cut with their old allies, which means that whether the international community will readily recognize the interim government remains a question.
There is an added complication. The Taliban’s supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzada will be the emir of the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan as per media reports. The appointment of the emir makes the new political system in Afghanistan similar to the previous one allowing the emir to live in Kandahar where the administrative work of the country will be shared by the PM and other senior officials.
Apart from the international ramifications of the new Afghan Government, the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) is a major concern for China and the Taliban are aware if it wants to maintain a sustainable ruling of the country, China is the only major power that could provide meaningful support. Therefore, it would take some actions on the matter to meet China’s request feels the Chinese expert.
China may be in for a Shock.
