India-Afghanistan envoys meet in Beijing as Europe seeks Taliban’s trial for gender crimes
India and Afghanistan have continued their diplomatic outreach with a meeting between their envoys in Beijing, underscoring efforts to strengthen bilateral cooperation even as international debate over engagement with the Taliban intensifies. Image courtesy: X.com/@EOIBeijing
New Delhi: In an unusual diplomatic move, the ambassadors of India and Afghanistan met in Beijing on Wednesday. They discussed the strengthening of bilateral ties and exchanged views on the civilizational relationship between their two nations.
Indian ambassador to China Vikram Doraiswami and his Afghan counterpart, Asadullah Karimi, also posted in Beijing, discussed matters of mutual interest and shared ideas on sustaining efforts to deepen the two nations’ diplomacy.
“Ambassador met H.E. Mawlawi Asadullah (Bilal Karimi), Ambassador of Afghanistan to China, in Beijing today. Ambassador @VDoraiswami and Ambassador Karimi exchanged views on the historical and civilisational ties between the peoples of the two countries and welcomed continued efforts to strengthen and deepen cooperation in areas of mutual interest,” the Indian embassy in Beijing posted on X.
The development comes just days after India, in May, reaffirmed its commitment and support to the “friendly people” of Afghanistan in the health sector, as it sent 20 tonnes of critical dry material for vaccines for Kabul’s child immunisation programme. Since the Taliban takeover of Kabul in 2021, India has been slowly but steadily ramping up its engagement with the new regime in Afghanistan, deepening the bilateral ties.
India continues to provide humanitarian aid to Afghanistan as part of its long-term support to the Afghan people. New Delhi has encouraged medical tourism by the people of the war-ravaged nations, with several thousand visiting India annually to get treatment for their ailments and injuries suffered during the several wars.
In April, the external affairs ministry said it had delivered aid for the flood-affected and earthquake-hit Afghans. The MEA spokesman, Randhir Jaiswal, had then said the humanitarian assistance and disaster relief materials, including kitchen sets, hygiene kits, plastic sheets, tarpaulins, sleeping bags, and more, were sent for the suffering Afghans. “India stands in solidarity with the people of Afghanistan and remains committed to extending humanitarian assistance and support during this challenging time,” he had said.
In the ongoing border clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan, and during the Pakistani military operations across the Durand line, India has condemned Islamabad for the airstrikes on civilians. In May, India assailed Pakistan at the UN high table for “the barbaric strikes” carried out by Islamabad at the Omid Addiction Treatment Hospital in Kabul, killing 269 civilians.
India’s permanent representative at the UN, Harish Parvathaneni, highlighted how Pakistan has a long record of involvement in genocidal acts against civilians, as 750 civilian deaths and injuries were documented in Afghanistan due to the cross-border violence by Pakistan’s military.
Europe targets Taliban
Meanwhile, the European Parliament’s chair for Afghanistan relations, Raquel García Hermida-van der Walle, opposed the possible invitation to the Taliban to Brussels, calling the policies of the rulers in Kabul towards women “gender apartheid” and “a crime against humanity”.
Hermida-van der Walle told Afghanistan International that the European Union (EU) did not recognize the Taliban regime in Kabul and there was no basis for formal engagements with Afghanistan’s rulers. She also called for arresting the Taliban leadership and a trial by the International Criminal Court in The Hague, rather than welcoming them to the EU.
The European leader said the EU applied five fundamental criteria for its ties with any nation and claimed none of those benchmarks were met by the Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. Expressing concern over some EU member states contacting the Taliban, she argued that a distinction should be made between official EU policy and the independent approaches of national governments.
Previously, EU member states Germany and Norway have hosted Taliban leaders in their respective national capitals, while cooperating on the deportation of undocumented Afghan migrants.
Describing the prospects of the Taliban being invited to Brussels as “very dangerous”, the Spanish-Dutch politician argued that such an invitation would send a message that the group’s actions were acceptable and would amount to normalizing them. She said the European parliament would oppose a move and rejected the European Commission’s argument that dialogue with the Taliban was needed to discuss the deportation of Afghan migrants.
It was unreasonable to negotiate with the Taliban, she said, describing the group as one of the main drivers of large-scale migration from Afghanistan.
Hermida-van der Walle described Taliban policies towards women and girls as “a clear example of gender apartheid” and said efforts are underway to designate these policies as a crime against humanity. Recognizing gender apartheid as an international crime could help restrict the travel of Taliban officials and support the issuance of additional international arrest warrants against the group’s leaders, she added.
The EU member states should arrest Taliban members if they enter European territory and transfer them to the International Criminal Court in The Hague, she demanded. Calling for stronger international pressure and sanctions on the Taliban, she said the international community must intensify efforts to bring an end to the current situation in Afghanistan.
