Consultations between the Afghan government team, which includes government officials and representatives from civil society, and the Taliban began last week in Doha, Qatar, and are expected to continue. In their visit, representatives from the international community encouraged the continuation of an effective peace process, demonstrating the complexity of the Afghan problem. Afghanistan’s neighbours have been increasingly involved in the preparations for an eventual U.S. withdrawal as a result of the signing of the U.S.-Taliban agreement in February, which prepared the door for this direct dialogue.
Even in the midst of intense geopolitical competition between the United States and China, the stability of Afghanistan is one of the few areas of common interest between the two countries still standing. It is an undertaking that necessitates international cooperation. The peace talks have been stalled for more than six months due to disagreements about prisoner releases; in the meantime, the Taliban has escalated the severity of its attacks against Afghan security personnel and civilians throughout the country.
The Trump administration, on the other hand, is sticking to its initial intentions to withdraw all U.S. soldiers from Afghanistan by the middle of 2024. Even if President Donald Trump loses his re-election attempt in November, the trend toward troop withdrawal will most certainly continue. He believes that American forces should be drastically reduced to less than 2,000, and that the costly war in Afghanistan should be brought to a stop. His opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden, feels the same thing.
China’s Military Efforts in the Middle East
Chinese and Pakistani officials have invited the Taliban to discuss regional security and stability in Afghanistan, after the launch of U.S. Special Envoy Zalmay Khalilzad’s shuttle diplomacy to support peace negotiations in 2018. China, like the United States, is concerned about the threat to their domestic security posed by terrorist organisations based in Afghanistan. According to the agreement reached with China, in exchange for supporting the Taliban’s inclusion in Afghan government, the Taliban must prohibit Uyghur secessionist forces from China’s Xinjiang region from crossing the border and establishing bases in Afghanistan.
