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Taliban delegation visits China: Taliban spokesperson
"Politics, economy and issues related to the security of both countries and the current situation of Afghanistan and the peace process were discussed in the meetings," Taliban spokesperson Mohammad Naeem tweeted, quoted by Reuters.
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Members of the Taliban delegation gather ahead of the signing ceremony with the United States in the Qatari capital Doha, on February 29, 2020. - Washington and the Taliban are set to sign a landmark deal in Doha that would see them agree to the withdrawal of thousands of US troops from Afghanistan in return for insurgent guarantees. (Photo by Giuseppe CACACE / AFP) (AFP/Giuseppe CACACE)
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nine-member Taliban delegation is on a two-day visit to China where they met with the foreign minister for talks on the peace process and security issues, the group's spokesperson said on Wednesday.
"Politics, economy and issues related to the security of both countries and the current situation of Afghanistan and the peace process were discussed in the meetings," Taliban spokesperson Mohammad Naeem tweeted, quoted by Reuters.
Security in Afghanistan, with which China shares a border, has been deteriorating fast as the United States withdraws its troops by September. The Taliban has launched a flurry of offensives, taking districts and border crossings around the country while peace talks in Qatar's capital have not made substantive progress.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Afghanistan would become a "pariah state" if the Taliban take control of the country by force and fail to respect the rights of its people.
"An Afghanistan that does not respect the rights of its people, an Afghanistan that commits atrocities against its own people would become a pariah state," Blinken told reporters in India, quoted by AFP.
He said reports of "atrocities" committed by the Taliban in recent weeks as the insurgents make advances across the country were "deeply, deeply troubling" and "certainly do not speak well to the Taliban's intentions for the country as a whole."
He added that the United States "remain very much engaged in Afghanistan, in support of the government through the various forms of assistance we're providing, including to the security forces, as well as the diplomacy that we're engaged in to try to bring the parties together in a meaningful way to resolve the conflict, peacefully."
He added: "The Taliban says that it seeks international recognition, that it wants international support for Afghanistan. Presumably it wants its leaders to be able to travel freely in the world, sanctions lifted, etc."
"The taking over of the country by force and abusing the rights of its people is not the path to achieve those objectives," he said.
"There's only one path. And that's at the negotiating table to resolve the conflicts peacefully, and to have an Afghanistan emerge that is governed in a genuinely inclusive way, and that is representative of all its people."
