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Taliban hold talks with China, meet Foreign Minister Wang Yi

Photo: Twitter

A Taliban delegation led by Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar held talks in China with foreign minister Wang Yi on the peace process and security issues, Hindustan Times reported on Wednesday.

The talks were held in the backdrop of growing concerns in Beijing over the activities of the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) that seeks to establish an Uyghur state.

“Politics, economy and issues related to the security of both countries and the current situation of Afghanistan and the peace process were discussed in the meetings,” Taliban spokesperson Mohammad Naeem tweeted.

There was no word on the meeting from the Chinese side or the Taliban. Several images of Wang with the Taliban delegation, which included spokesman Suhail Shaheen, were posted on social media, the report said.

Baradar, who heads the Taliban’s political office in Qatar and has been the lead negotiator for talks with the US, met Wang in the northern city of Tianjin, the South China Morning Post reported citing sources familiar with the arrangements.

This is the first time a senior Taliban leader has visited China since the group launched a massive offensive to capture territory across Afghanistan, coinciding with the rapid drawdown of US and NATO forces. China has hosted a Taliban delegation in 2019 that met Deng Xijun, then the special envoy for Afghanistan.

 

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