Afghanistan’s Taliban government has welcomed the recent stance by Russia, China, Iran and Pakistan against the establishment of foreign military bases in and around Afghanistan.
This position was affirmed in a joint statement released after foreign ministers from the four countries met on the sidelines of the 80th United Nations General Assembly in New York. They emphasised respect for Afghanistan’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity and said re-establishment of foreign military bases is “not conducive to regional peace and security.”
According to Hamdullah Fitrat, deputy spokesperson for the Taliban government, his country not only welcomed the stance of the four countries but said that “Afghanistan will not allow its territory to be used against other countries, nor permit armed groups to operate from its soil.”
While the joint statement did not refer to any specific country seeking bases in Afghanistan, it follows one by US President Donald Trump where he said Washington was trying to get Bagram air base in Afghanistan back.
Bagram Air Base served as the linchpin for US operations in the rugged country, where the long war against the Taliban and their Al Qaeda allies was fought with air strikes and resupply missions from the airfield. In July 2021, all US and Nato troops left Afghanistan’s biggest air base, signalling the complete withdrawal of foreign forces from the country after two decades of war.
After his initial statement about Bagram in the United Kingdom, Trump had threatened Afghanistan with unspecified consequences if it refused to give control of the Bagram air base to the US.
For their part, the Taliban government in Afghanistan rejected his demand.
In their joint statement, Russia, China, Iran and Pakistan also urged the Taliban rulers to take “effective, concrete and verifiable actions in fulfilling the international obligations and commitments made by Afghanistan to fight terrorism, and dismantle, and eliminate all terrorist groups, and to prevent recruitment, fundraising and their access to weapons, as well as their collaboration with foreign terrorist fighters”.
The four countries further urged the Afghan authorities to dismantle any terrorist training camps or any other terrorist infrastructure on their soil.
Moreover, their joint statement said: “The four sides expressed deep concern over the security situation related to terrorism in Afghanistan, noting that terrorist groups such as ISIL, Al Qaeda, the Eastern Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Jaish ul Adl, Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and other similar groups in the region including Majeed Brigade, as well as others, based in Afghanistan, continue to pose a serious threat to regional and global security.
“They emphasised that strengthening peace and stability in Afghanistan and countering the threats of terrorism, radicalism, and drug crime emanating from its territory are in line with their common interests in the region.”
To this end, Fitrat termed the idea of “Afghanistan posing any threat to other countries baseless”.
“Afghanistan is taking serious steps against corruption, drugs and all kinds of undesirable issues and considers this process its responsibility,” he said, stressing that the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan wants to establish positive relations with all countries on the basis of mutual respect”.
Fitrat said “prioritising relations with regional and international countries in the context of security, stability and development in Afghanistan” was a “realistic” approach.
The Afghan government deputy spokesperson asserted that Kabul’s policy was “based on mutual trust, positive contacts and promotion of friendly relations and any false concerns or baseless allegations regarding Afghanistan are strongly rejected”.
Separately, Afghanistan’s Taliban government announced the release of a detained American citizen on Sunday, a week after an elderly British couple were also released by the authorities.