Foreign Minister Wang Yi: Taliban Want Dialogue With The World, China Ready To Host

Menlu China Wang Yi. (Wikimedia Commons/Tasnim News Agency/Erfan Kouchari)

JAKARTA - The Taliban is eager for dialogue with the rest of the world, and the international community must help Afghanistan with its development, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Wednesday.

In a speech delivered via video link to a conference in Iran, Foreign Minister Wang said Beijing was ready to host further talks between Afghanistan and its neighbors on the country's future.

"The Taliban is eager for dialogue with the world. China is ready to host Afghanistan's meeting with its neighbors at the right time," Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in comments broadcast live on Iranian state TV, citing Reuters Oct. 27.

The Afghanistan and neighboring countries meeting was attended in person by the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, and China and Russia participated via video link.

The talks follow a similar conference involving Afghanistan's neighbors hosted by Pakistan in September, aimed at building a long-lasting peace in Afghanistan.

China, which does not fight in Afghanistan, has given the Taliban a peace sign since they regained power in Afghanistan following the withdrawal of US troops in August.

Meanwhile, the United States and other Western countries are looking for ways to engage with the Taliban and ensure humanitarian aid flows into the country, without giving them the legitimacy they seek.

US officials and Taliban representatives discussed humanitarian aid for Afghanistan this month in Qatar, although Washington said the meeting did not imply recognition of the Taliban.

The United States and other Western countries are reluctant to provide funding to the Taliban until the militant Islamist movement provides assurances that it will uphold human rights, and in particular women's rights.

Separately, at a conference Wednesday in Iran, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian supported the formation of an inclusive government in Afghanistan, state television reported. His remarks echoed Iran's official stance.

Iran's Shia Muslims have been enemies of the hardline Sunni Muslim Taliban for decades, but over the past few years have been openly meeting with Taliban leaders. In July, Tehran hosted a meeting of representatives of the then Afghan government and a high-level political committee of the Taliban.

To note, Iran has criticized the Taliban, who took over Afghanistan in August, for excluding ethnic minorities from the government.