ISLAMABAD: An Afghan Taliban delegation is visiting Beijing to hold talks with Chinese officials as part of a peace process ahead of their seventh round of talks with the United States in Qatar, a former Taliban spokesman has said.
China has played an increasingly active role in the Afghan peace process aimed at ending a long and bloody war, alongside Russia and the United States. In April this year, the three countries pressed Afghanistan’s Taliban insurgents to hold talks with Afghan politicians and civilians, as an important step to end the 17 year conflict.
Abdul Hai Mutmayen, who has served as Taliban chief spokesman in Kandahar, told Arab News that the Taliban political office head, Abdul Ghani Baradar was leading the delegation in talks with Chinese officials.
“The Taliban delegation led by head of the Qatar office and deputy chief on political affairs Abdul Ghani Baradar is in Beijing,” Mutmayen said.
“It seems that the Taliban leaders are making efforts to hold consultations and exchange their views with key stakeholders ahead of the next round. The visit is an indication that the 7th round is important,” he added.
Mutmayen said two senior leaders from the negotiation team, Amir Khan Mutaqi and Abdul Latif Mansour were also part of the insurgents’ delegation in China.
When asked to confirm the news, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told Arab News he was in the “process of collecting information.”
Taliban's ex-spokesman Abdul Hai Mutmayen. (Supplied for AN)
The Chinese visit comes just days ahead of the Taliban’s latest round of talks with the US in Qatar, as the two sides attempt to finalize the points on the table from the preceding six rounds.
China has also offered to host intra-Afghan talks if all sides agree to such a role, but has ruled out playing the part of mediator. Taliban officials have indicated they could accept China as one of the guarantors if they reach a peace deal with the US.
China-Taliban political ties have been strong in the past, and in 2016, China hosted the Taliban while the insurgents fought the Western-backed government in Kabul.
Earlier in 2015, China hosted a secret meeting between the Taliban and Afghan government officials in Urumqi, capital of the western region of Xinjiang, according to former Taliban minister Mullah Abdul Jalil, who was part of the Taliban delegation.
Pakistan’s former ambassador to Afghanistan Abrar Hussain told Arab News on Sunday, that China’s involvement in peace efforts in Afghanistan was economically and politically motivated.
“China’s interest in Afghan peace... will lead to the withdrawal of foreign troops and bring economic opportunities. So China has been hosting sort of informal meetings for this purpose in the past,” he said.
With the withdrawal of foreign troops now top of the Taliban agenda going into the next round of talks with the US, the Afghan insurgents’ political spokesman Suhail Shaheen told Arab News last week that the ball was now in the US court.
“They will decide the date (of troop withdrawal) and they should decide an appropriate time-table with our consent. We will talk on internal aspect of the problem if the external aspect is settled,” he said.
According to Muhammad Amir Rana, director of leading research and advocacy think-tank, the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies, these developments are of deep interest to China, with Beijing keen to be on board with the peace process between the US and Taliban at this stage to avoid a more problematic role in the future.
“China wants peace in Afghanistan but it has apprehensions,” Rana told Arab News. “If the US leaves Afghanistan in haste, stability in Afghanistan and in the region will further deteriorate and China will have to take responsibility to fix the issue.”
