Days after the Taliban announced its new interim government, China said it will provide emergency humanitarian aid worth $31 million, including food, medicine, and Covid-19 vaccines to Afghanistan. Ever since the Taliban takeover in Kabul, there is an acute shortage of supplies including medicines. 

The announcement came after China held the meeting of foreign ministers of the neighboring countries of Afghanistan. Pakistan, which was also one of the participants, separately announced that it would also dispatch assistance, including food and medicine. 
 
Blaming the US for the situation in Afghanistan, China said the US and its allies must take responsibility for the humanitarian needs of the country. The US and other global lenders have blocked Afghanistan’s reserves and assets following the military takeover in the country.

Other European countries have also stopped their development assistance fund. 

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi discussed the situation in Afghanistan with regional countries. Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister, also suggested inviting Taliban representatives in the future meetings of the grouping. 
 
In the meeting, Wang stressed the cooperation from neighboring countries to Afghanistan in fields including helping Afghanistan to strengthen COVID-19 epidemic prevention, keeping border ports open, strengthening management and control on refugees, providing humanitarian aid, deepening counterterrorism cooperation, and conducting anti-drug operations, according to a report in Global Times.

China also asked the Taliban to take concrete actions to contain and strike terrorists and called on all parties to strengthen intelligence sharing and border control to arrest and eliminate terrorist groups that flee Afghanistan. 

Despite its support for the Taliban, China hasn’t yet recognized the Taliban government. Earlier, Beijing termed the announcement of the new government in Kabul as a “necessary” step in the reconstruction of the country. 

(SAM)