A sixth eye
On 20 November 2024, Japan hosted a gathering of senior enlisted members from the Five Eyes intelligence partnership in Tokyo.
Taliban’s political chief Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar on Saturday said the insurgent group intends to have economic and trade ties with all countries around the world, including the US. “The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan wants diplomatic and trade ties with all countries, particularly with the United States of America,” Baradar said in a tweet.
Baradar denied media reports that the Taliban has not intended to have diplomatic and trade ties with Washington, reports Xinhua news agency.
“We never talk about the cut of trade ties with any countries. The rumor about this news has been propaganda. It is not true,” he said.
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Earlier in the day, unconfirmed reports said Baradar has arrived in Kabul from southern Kandahar to conduct consultation with Afghan leaders about the creation of a new government. He returned to Kandahar from Doha on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said they intended to form an inclusive government and does not want to have any internal or external enemies.
Chinese ambassador to Afghanistan Wang Yu and Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed chief operational commander Mufti Abdul Rauf Azhar are separately said to have met the Taliban leadership in Kandahar on Thursday to congratulate the Sunni Pashtun Islamists for taking over Afghanistan.
While ambassador Wang met his Pakistani counterpart on Wednesday to closely cooperate on the Afghan issue, he is understood to have met Mullah Baradar in Kandahar to offer Beijing’s help in the reconstruction of the Islamist Taliban-ruled country.
China is not only pleased with the humiliation of the US at the hands of the Taliban but is also looking to sell the Belt Road Initiative (BRI) and exploit Afghan reserves of lithium and copper in the name of reconstruction. The larger Chinese game-plan is to reach the Central Asian Republics via Afghanistan for evacuation of gas and mineral resources.
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