{"id":41203,"date":"2021-12-07T16:32:03","date_gmt":"2021-12-07T15:32:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/novastan.org\/en\/?p=41203"},"modified":"2023-03-30T17:17:49","modified_gmt":"2023-03-30T15:17:49","slug":"hardening-positions-on-afghanistan-following-summit-in-dushanbe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/novastan.org\/en\/tajikistan\/hardening-positions-on-afghanistan-following-summit-in-dushanbe\/","title":{"rendered":"Hardening Positions on Afghanistan following Summit in Dushanbe"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong><span lang=\"en-GB\">Held on 17 September in Dushanbe, the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">(SCO)<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\"> clarified member countries\u2019 positions on Afghanistan. Bringing together China, Russia, and four of five Central Asian countries, the SCO meeting seems to have been a particularly popular occasion for making statements about neighbouring Afghanistan. <\/span><\/strong><strong><span lang=\"en-GB\">This article was originally published on Novastan\u2019s <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/novastan.org\/fr\/decryptage\/apres-le-sommet-de-douchanbe-les-positions-autour-de-lafghanistan-saffermissent\/\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">French website<\/span><\/a><span lang=\"en-GB\"> on 20 September 2021.<\/span><\/strong><span lang=\"en-GB\">In Dushanbe, Afghanistan\u2019s neighbouring countries were able to establish what had been unclear since the Taliban\u2019s seizure of power. On 17 September, the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Shanghai_Cooperation_Organisation\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">Shanghai Cooperation Organisation<\/span><\/a><span lang=\"en-GB\"> (SCO), founded in Beijing in 2001, organised its annual meeting in the capital of Tajikistan. At the table were the majority of the institution\u2019s members: Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Pakistan. Joining the meeting remotely were China, Russia, and India.<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">Aside from statements vaunting cooperation among the eight member countries, the Dushanbe Summit made possible an in-depth discussion about Afghanistan. Three of the organisation\u2019s countries sharpened their differences concerning Afghanistan, at the same time presenting a superficial impression of being in accord.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">The Push for an Inclusive Government<\/span><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p><span lang=\"en-GB\">These three members expressed their desire to see an inclusive government in Afghanistan, according to Tajik media outlet<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/asiaplustj.info\/en\/news\/centralasia\/20210920\/imran-khan-says-he-conveyed-a-message-to-the-taliban-from-emomali-rahmon-to-create-an-inclusive-government\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">Asia-Plus<\/span><\/a><span lang=\"en-GB\">. On 21 September, only a few days after that statement was made, the Taliban announced the new members of their government: only one Uzbek and two Tajiks. These new members are essentially in lower-level positions, or are ethnic Hazaras, as reported by Afghan media <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/tolonews.com\/afghanistan-174742\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">Tolonews<\/span><\/a><span lang=\"en-GB\"> and the American news agency <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/afghanistan-cabinets-kabul-taliban-zabihullah-mujahid-be4088b24fd3c6b77bbceaf7b35c20af\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">AP<\/span><\/a><span lang=\"en-GB\">.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\t\t\t<div class=\"hp-newsletter col-span-3 lg:col-span-1 flex flex-col bg-primary-100 border-t-8 border-secondary-500 rounded-lg justify-center items-center lg:items-stretch px-6 py-6 gap-4 box-border\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"flex\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"enveloppe\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<i class=\"far fa-envelope text-5xl text-secondary-300\"><\/i>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"formulaire_nl\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"font-bold text-xl block\">The whole of Central Asia in your inbox\n<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to our free weekly newsletter\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<form class=\"flex w-3\/4 lg:w-full\" action=\"https:\/\/us4.list-manage.com\/subscribe?u=6a15a2256d412b041fdec39e8&amp;id=d479236523\" method=\"post\" id=\"mc-embedded-subscribe-form\" name=\"mc-embedded-subscribe-form\" class=\"validate\" target=\"_blank\" novalidate=\"\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<input class=\"flex-grow py-2 px-3 border border-primary-300 rounded-l\" type=\"email\" placeholder=\"Email\" name=\"EMAIL\" id=\"mce-EMAIL\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<button class=\"bg-secondary-500 py-2 px-3 text-white rounded-r-md border border-secondary-500\" type=\"submit\" value=\"\" name=\"subscribe\">Register<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/form>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"#\" class=\"underline text-secondary-700\">Click here for the latest issue\n<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div><!-- newsletter -->\n\t\t\n\n\n\n<p><span lang=\"en-GB\">The humanitarian situation of refugees was also raised, with SCO members expressing a desire for their long-term accommodation, and for the facilitating of a <em>\u201c<\/em><\/span><em><span lang=\"en-GB\">dignified, safe, and permanent return to their country<\/span><\/em><span lang=\"en-GB\"><em>,\u201d<\/em> the <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/eng.sectsco.org\/news\/20210917\/782639.html\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">communal statement<\/span><\/a><span lang=\"en-GB\"> declared.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">Uzbekistan: the Most Pro-Taliban Country<\/span><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p><span lang=\"en-GB\">But that statement did not erase the differences among the heads of state. True to his role as mediator, Uzbek president <a href=\"https:\/\/fr.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Shavkat_Mirziyoyev\">Shavkat Mirziyoyev<\/a> suggested that business discussions with Afghanistan were more relevant than ever, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/tass.ru\/ekonomika\/12430511\">Russian press agency TASS<\/a>. The leader of the most populous Central Asian country hoped that high-level meetings between the SCO and Afghanistan would be held regularly, which would amount to official recognition of the Taliban government. Shavkat Mirziyoyev also asserted that Afghan assets in foreign banks should be unfrozen.<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">Unfreezing these assets was also supported by Vladimir Putin via video-conference, <a href=\"https:\/\/tass.ru\/mezhdunarodnaya-panorama\/12436527\">reported TASS<\/a>. The Russian president expressed his desire for international aid to be set up, with most of the cost carried by the United States, who he judged as responsible for the Taliban\u2019s seizure of power.&nbsp;<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">In addition, the Kyrgyz and Kazakh presidents affirmed that a security barrier should be set up around Afghanistan to combat drugs trafficking and terrorism, according to Kazakh media site Tengrinews.<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/novastan.org\/en\/kyrgyzstan\/rise-and-fall-and-rise-the-career-of-kyrgyzstans-sadyr-japarov\/?noredirect=en-GB\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">Sadyr Japarov<\/span><\/a><span lang=\"en-GB\"> and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Kassym-Jomart_Tokayev\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">Ka<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">ssy<\/span><\/a><span lang=\"en-GB\"><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Kassym-Jomart_Tokayev\">m-Jomart Tokaev<\/a> have also suggested that humanitarian aid be provided to Afghanistan, and said they are prepared to participate but without providing specific details, Russian media site Sputnik <a href=\"https:\/\/ru.sputnik.kg\/politics\/20210917\/1053935241\/kyrgyzstan-sadyr-zhaparov-shos-sammit-vystuplenie.html\">reported<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">Tajikistan: Leader of the Anti-Taliban<\/span><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p><span lang=\"en-GB\">These fairly amicable positions towards the Taliban were largely eclipsed by bombastic statements by the Tajiki president. According to <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Emomali_Rahmon\">Emomali Rahmon<\/a>, the Taliban movement intends to establish autocracy in Afghanistan by installing an <em>\u201c<\/em><\/span><em><span lang=\"en-GB\">Islamic emirate based on harsh medieval Sharia law<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">,\u201d<\/span><\/em><span lang=\"en-GB\">as<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">reported by <a href=\"https:\/\/rus.ozodi.org\/a\/31465802.html\">Radio Ozodi<\/a>, the Tajik branch of <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">the American media<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\"> Radio Free Europe. In line with earlier statements, Tajikistan\u2019s head of state asserted that the Taliban must allow humanitarian aid to be delivered to<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Panjshir_Province\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">Panjshir<\/span><\/a><span lang=\"en-GB\">, a province fighting Afghanistan\u2019s new rulers which has been cut off from the world since late July, reported <a href=\"https:\/\/rus.ozodi.org\/a\/31464594.html\">Radio Ozodi<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">However, the Tajik president\u2019s assertions were most virulent on the eve of the SCO summit, with Dushanbe hosting a meeting of the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Collective_Security_Treaty_Organization\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">Collective Security Treaty Organization<\/span><\/a><span lang=\"en-GB\"> (CSTO), a militaristic organisation directed by Moscow. <em>\u201c<\/em><\/span><em><span lang=\"en-GB\">The composition of the interim government announced by the Taliban fails to take into consideration political, ethnic, and linguistic diversity, and equality of the sexes. This means that over the course of the next two or three years the propagation of extreme ideology in Afghanistan will increase, and the likelihood that these destructive ideas will spread into adjacent areas will be multiplied<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">,\u201d<\/span><\/em><span lang=\"en-GB\">stated Emomali Rahmon, as reported by <a href=\"https:\/\/rus.ozodi.org\/a\/31463542.html\">Radio Ozodi<\/a>.<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">Despite expected tensions in the SCO due to the presence of Pakistan, a strong supporter of the Taliban, no conflict arose when the Tajik head of state met with the Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan away from the main stage of the summit, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/asiaplustj.info\/en\/news\/centralasia\/20210920\/taliban-and-tajiks-of-afghanistan-may-hold-negotiations-in-dushanbe\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">Asia-Plus<\/span><\/a><span lang=\"en-GB\">reported<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">. The two heads of state expressed their shared readiness to facilitate talks between the Taliban and the Tajiks of Afghanistan, and signed<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/asiaplustj.info\/en\/news\/tajikistan\/politics\/20210920\/tajikistan-and-iran-signed-eight-new-agreements\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">eight agreements<\/span><\/a><span lang=\"en-GB\">.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">Afghanistan, a Double-edged Sword for the SCO<\/span><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p><span lang=\"en-GB\">More broadly, disagreements among members seem damaging to the idea that the SCO, under the leadership of China and Russia, can take the upper hand in Afghanistan. <em>\u201c<\/em><\/span><em><span lang=\"en-GB\">The SCO is a very great organisation with numerous unsolved problems among its members, which makes it imperfect<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">,\u201d<\/span><\/em><span lang=\"en-GB\">Konstantin Kourylev, a professor of international relations at Moscow\u2019s Peoples\u2019 Friendship University, told Novastan. In fact, the 2017 admission of Pakistan and India increased dissent, whereas the SCO officially admitted Iran as a separate full member during the Dushanbe Summit, <a href=\"https:\/\/asiaplustj.info\/ru\/news\/tajikistan\/politics\/20210918\/shos-na-sammite-v-dushanbe-prinyala-resheniya-v-polzu-rasshireniya\">Asia-Plus reported<\/a>. <\/span><em><span lang=\"en-GB\">\u201cSo the SCO ought not to be considered a force capable of influencing the situation in Afghanistan. The <\/span><\/em><span lang=\"en-GB\">[member]<\/span><em><span lang=\"en-GB\"> states alone can be influential, but they are poorly organised and therefore ineffective,\u201d <\/span><\/em><span lang=\"en-GB\">suggested the Russian researcher.<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">That position is not shared by the director of the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tech-station.eu\/partners\/ipse-institut-prospective-s%C3%A9curit%C3%A9-en-europe\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">Institute for European Perspective and Security<\/span><\/a><span lang=\"en-GB\">, Emmanuel Dupuy. <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">\u201cAfghanistan will be a unifying subject for the SCO, since nearly all of its neighbouring countries are members, except for Turkmenistan. The formal admission of Iran as the ninth member confirms this,\u201d <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">he believes <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">in an interview<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\"> with Novastan. <\/span><em><span lang=\"en-GB\">\u201cFurthermore, the flagship countries of the SCO, like Russia and China, are in the process of taking advantage of the American absence in Central and South Asia. Witness the deployment of Russian troops to Tajikistan, the Rubezh-2021 military exercises in Kyrgyzstan, and the planning of the first communal naval manoeuvres by Iran, China, and Russia,\u201d<\/span><\/em><span lang=\"en-GB\"> he added.<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">Expanding on this theme, Emmanuel Dupuy suggests that <em>\u201c<\/em><\/span><em><span lang=\"en-GB\">the strengthening of the SCO is only the first stage of a rocket that will see the strengthening of the <\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">CSTO<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">, and no doubt the removal of obstacles to membership for Central Asian countries that up until now have hesitated to join\u2014for instance, Uzbekistan. All this will occur in a context in which Russia will seem to be the lesser evil to Central Asian countries after the American retreat.<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">\u201d<\/span><\/em><span lang=\"en-GB\">Taking a middle path, Ding Xiaoxing, director of the Institute of Eurasian Studies, published an opinion on the<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/eng.sectsco.org\/\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">SCO site<\/span><\/a><span lang=\"en-GB\"> apparently shared by that organisation. <em>\u201c<\/em><\/span><em><span lang=\"en-GB\">The SCO is an ideal platform for resolving the Afghanistan problem. The organisation can play a part in coordinating members\u2019 differing positions on Afghanistan and their shared encouragement of the goals of internal peace and stability in that country<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">,\u201d<\/span><\/em><span lang=\"en-GB\">he suggested.&nbsp;<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">It remains to be seen how the Taliban will react to the attempts of the SCO to play humanitarian, protective, and diplomatic roles simultaneously, while at the same time being noticeably divided on how to accomplish these goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><span lang=\"en-GB\">Etienne Combier<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">\n<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">Editor-in-chief of Novastan<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><span lang=\"en-GB\">Translated <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/novastan.org\/fr\/decryptage\/apres-le-sommet-de-douchanbe-les-positions-autour-de-lafghanistan-saffermissent\/\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">from French<\/span><\/a><span lang=\"en-GB\"> by Judy Harter<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><span lang=\"de-DE\">Edited by Fiona Katherine Smith<\/span><\/strong>\n<p><em>For more news and analysis from Central Asia, follow us on <a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/Novastan_Eng\">Twitter<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Novastan.org\/\">Facebook<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/telegram.me\/novastan\">Telegram<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/fondation-novastan\/\">Linkedin<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/novastanorg\/\">Instagram<\/a>.<\/em><\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Held on 17 September in Dushanbe, the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) clarified member countries\u2019 positions on Afghanistan. Bringing together China, Russia, and four of five Central Asian countries, the SCO meeting seems to have been a particularly popular occasion for making statements about neighbouring Afghanistan. This article was originally published on [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":81,"featured_media":41204,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3,6,5],"tags":[406,1101,3981,4033,470,2578,3982,4465,4464,3979,1793,3974],"coauthors":[81,4413,4414],"class_list":["post-41203","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kazakhstan","category-kyrgyzstan","category-tajikistan","category-uzbekistan","tag-afghanistan","tag-china","tag-diplomacy","tag-dushanbe","tag-kazakhstan","tag-kyrgyzstan","tag-russia","tag-sco","tag-shanghai-cooperation-organisation","tag-tajikistan","tag-taliban","tag-uzbekistan"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/novastan.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/novastan.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/novastan.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novastan.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/81"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novastan.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41203"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/novastan.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41203\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novastan.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/novastan.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novastan.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novastan.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41203"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novastan.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=41203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}