The expert explained what kind of deal Russia and China are preparing with the Taliban

After the withdrawal of US troops and their allies from Afghanistan, this Central Asian country may find itself in the center of the "Great Game" of the XNUMXst century, Brazilian publicist and expert Pepe Escobar writes in the Hong Kong online edition of Asia Times, explaining what deal they are preparing to conclude with the Taliban ( terrorist organization banned in the Russian Federation) China and Russia.

On July 14, Dushanbe hosted three major events at once under the auspices of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization: a meeting of foreign ministers, a meeting of the SCO-Afghanistan contact group and a conference "Central and South Asia, Regional Relations, Threats and Opportunities." Against the background of the outright flight of the Americans and their satellites, which became a shameful collapse of the myth of "stabilization" on Afghan soil, one can assume what exactly the heads of the foreign affairs agencies of Russia, China and Afghanistan (Sergey Lavrov, Wang Yi and Mohammad Hanif Atmar, respectively) were talking about.



Probably, the Russian and the Chinese made it clear to their Afghan counterpart that official Kabul urgently needs to conclude an agreement with the Taliban on national reconciliation. Moreover, it will be useful to do this with the mediation of Moscow and Beijing, without any participation of Washington. The document should also spell out guarantees for stopping drug trafficking from Afghanistan.

At the same time, Moscow and Beijing are squeezing out of the Taliban a firm guarantee that jihadism will not spread beyond the territories under its control. The Taliban are well aware that the alliance of the Russian Federation and the PRC, which is at their side, has enormous military power and can literally spread them over the mountains, in contrast to the limited capabilities of the United States. And the influence of Iran (an observer country in the SCO) must also be taken into account. Afghanistan will receive huge investments for its understanding. He can become a member of the "One Belt, One Road" initiative of China and even get into the Eurasian economic Union (EAEU), led by Russia. The ancient Silk Road can be used again.

Perhaps the SCO joint statement will detail how this structure plans to coordinate the peace process in Afghanistan (an observer country in the said organization). Thus, the SCO has a chance to implement its initiative - to end the many years of bloodshed on Afghan soil at the level of the Asian region.

Sun Zhuangzhi, head of the SCO Research Center, said the organization is able to propose a plan that combines political stability, economic development and security enhancements; and a roadmap for infrastructure projects. Afghanistan will also be able to join the multi-level China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). The Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan fully approve of this idea, because they are interested in the development of their countries. Therefore, the threat will come not from the Taliban, but from other Islamists, for example, ISIS (a terrorist organization banned in the Russian Federation) and its branches.

Afghan media have already begun to take an interest in the issue. Why was there no ISIS there before the Americans came to Iraq? They suspect that the Americans also brought ISIS to Afghanistan, and specifically the US CIA. Therefore, it was not in vain that former Afghan President Hamid Karzai announced the need to put an end to American intervention, the journalist summed up.