Earlier on July 28, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met formally in Tianjin with a nine-member Taliban delegation, including Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the hardline Muslim group’s co-founder and deputy leader…reports Asian Lite News
Following the fall of Kabul into the hands of the Taliban, China on Monday said that it is willing to develop “friendly relations” with the terrorist outfit.
“China respects the right of the Afghan people to independently determine their own destiny and is willing to continue to develop… friendly and cooperative relations with Afghanistan,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters, said ARY News.
The Taliban declared the war in Afghanistan was over after they took control of the presidential palace in Kabul on Sunday after US-led forces departed and Western nations scrambled to evacuate their citizens.
President Ashraf Ghani fled the country as the Taliban entered the city, saying he wanted to avoid bloodshed, while hundreds of Afghans desperate to leave flooded Kabul airport.
The world has been left stunned at images of the Taliban’s blitzkrieg across Afghanistan, as that country’s military evaporated with remarkable swiftness.
Earlier on July 28, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met formally in Tianjin with a nine-member Taliban delegation, including Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the hardline Muslim group’s co-founder and deputy leader.
The meeting itself was not a surprise – for the Taliban has been in China previously for meetings – but the way China publicized it was. Indeed, Wang publicly acknowledged the Taliban as “a crucial military and political force in Afghanistan that is expected to play an important role in the peace, reconciliation and reconstruction process of the country”.
Such a Chinese affirmation was unprecedented, giving the Taliban much-needed legitimacy on the international stage and many countries still define the Taliban as a terrorist organization.
Meanwhile, international community on Monday issued a joint statement urging parties in Afghanistan to respect and facilitate the safe and orderly departure of foreign nationals and Afghans who wish to leave the country.
According to the statement, Afghans and international citizens who wish to depart must be allowed to do so; roads, airports, and border crossing must remain open, and calm must be maintained.
“The Afghan people deserve to live in safety, security, and dignity. We in the international community stand ready to assist them,” the statement read.
The statement has been jointly issued by Albania, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Belgium, Burkina Faso, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cote d’Ivoire, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Estonia, The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kosovo, Latvia, Liberia, Lichtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta , Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Montenegro, Nauru, Netherlands, New Zealand, Niger, North Macedonia, Norway, Palau, Panama, Paraguay, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Republic of Cyprus, Romania, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Suriname, Sweden, Togo, Tonga, Uganda, United Kingdom, Ukraine, and Yemen.
Meanwhile, a shocking video in which desperate Afghans who had clung to the underbelly of a C-17 Globemaster falling down from the plane has gone viral.
Earlier on Monday, at least three people were killed following gunfire at the passenger terminal of Kabul’s international airport.
The incident happened after thousands of Afghans gathered at the Kabul airport to seek an evacuation flight amid the Taliban’s takeover of the country.
Witnesses reported seeing the prone, bloodied bodies lying on the ground just outside the terminal building.
The airport resembled a chaotic bus station as hundreds of people jostled, pushed and shoved to get on to a waiting plane.
Meanwhile, the US military has taken over the security at the Kabul airport to execute the massive airlift of diplomat presence in Afghanistan following the Taliban’s takeover of the capital city, The Wall Street Journal reported.
On Sunday the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also informed that the President has sent additional forces to ensure an orderly and safe evacuation of the US diplomatic presence in Kabul. (ANI)