Beijing/Russia/Washington: China is set to host the extended meeting of the China-US-Russia consultation mechanism on the Afghan issue on the sidelines of the third Foreign Ministers’ Meeting among the Neighboring Countries of Afghanistan in Tunxi, Anhui Province, on March 30 and 31. The countries invited by China for the Foreign Ministers’ Meeting are Russia, Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
China chose to ignore India’s presence in the meeting and on March 28, 2022, its foreign ministry spokesperson parried a question by a reporter who wanted to know whether India was invited to the meeting. The Chinese foreign ministry claimed that China, the US, Russia and Pakistan were countries with “important influence” on the Afghan issue. “We hope that this meeting can positively echo the third Foreign Ministers’ Meeting among the Neighboring Countries of Afghanistan, further build consensus on the Afghan issue, encourage regional countries and the international community to step up support for peace and reconstruction in Afghanistan, and help the country achieve peace, stability and development at an early date,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told reporters in Beijing today.
The participants plan to discuss the coordination of regional efforts on humanitarian and socio-economic assistance for Afghanistan and to compare approaches to countering the threats of terrorism and drug trafficking from Afghan territory.
On the sidelines of the meeting, the foreign ministers of Afghanistan’s neighbours will conduct talks with a Taliban delegation; the participants in the expanded Three will hold a meeting on Afghanistan at the level of special representatives (Russia, China, the United States and Pakistan); and some participants will hold bilateral meetings.
Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi will have a group meeting with the attendees from all parties. Ambassador Yue Xiaoyong, Special Envoy for Afghan Affairs of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will chair the meeting.
The meeting takes place when the United States and the international community are paying close attention to the Taliban’s actions inside Afghanistan, particularly the regime’s recent decisions to deny girls above the sixth-grade access to education and to stifle the press.
Referring to the Taliban’s move to deny high school education to the girls in Afghanistan, the United Nations Security Council had on March 25, 2022, expressed their deep concern and reaffirmed the right to education for all Afghans, including girls. The UNSC members had called on the Taliban to respect the right to education and adhere to their commitments to reopen schools for all female students without further delay.
The USA too had issued a separate statement on March 28, stating that the Taliban continued to move Afghanistan in the “wrong direction” by failing to uphold commitments they had made, including their March 23 decision to prevent girls from attending secondary school.
With regards to the restriction on media, the US State Department had stated yesterday that it was with “alarm and deep concern we learned of the Taliban’s decision to stifle the Afghan people’s access to independent, objective, international media sources”.
Media outlets such as the Voice of America, the British Broadcasting Corporation, and Deutsche Welle have reported that their local broadcasting partners have been prevented from airing their programming in the country due to new, restrictive, and unpublished guidelines from the Taliban.
The United States stated that it was committed to supporting the right of freedom of expression the world over, especially for journalists and human rights defenders, to operate freely without fear of violence against them.
“Education and freedom of expression are human rights held by every person in Afghanistan. These are not Western values or concessions to the international community; they are human rights and essential to a peaceful and prosperous Afghan society, which is something the Taliban claim to desire. We urge the Taliban to cease these infringements on the rights of Afghans, and we continue to stand with the Afghan people,” the US stated.
– global bihari bureau
