India and China will finally sit together on Thursday in what will be their first ever formal talks on Afghanistan. The discussions will be of tremendous significance for the two nations as the drawdown date for US-led Nato forces from the conflict-ridden country looms in the horizon.
The dialogue is also significant in that a reluctant China has finally decided to emerge from the shadow of Pakistan where Afghanistan is concerned. Till so far, China had been quite content to let close ally Pakistan take the lead in determining its Afghan policy. However, Beijing appears to be losing faith in Islamabad as the latter struggles with its issues of instability and terrorism.
Additional secretary PAI (Pakistan, Afghanistan, India) Yash Sinha will be leading the talks from the Indian side on April 18. The dialogue on Afghanistan comes after a worried China, driven by security concerns, finally decided that it needs to discuss the fall-out of the unfolding situation in Afghanistan with India.
Apart from this, China like India is also keen to protect its huge investments in Afghanistan, among them the Aynak copper mines in Logar province where work is currently on. Besides, the state-run oil company, CNPC, is drilling for oil in Afghanistan.
Again, like India, an anxious Chinese establishment is keen to assess the impact the drawdown of US-led Nato forces may have on regional peace and security. Both countries fear that the Taliban and terrorism may gain ground if there is no stability in Afghanistan.
China has been grappling with its own restive Xinjiang region where the Muslim minority people, the Uighurs, have been waging a violent campaign for an independent state. China alleges that Uighur militants have links to Al Qaeda and even claimed that they have been indoctrinated and trained in Afghanistan.
Indeed, China has not spared close friend Pakistan either when its comes to its troubles with the Uighurs. It had pointed an accusing finger at Pakistan when it claimed that an Uighur leader behind an attack was trained in Pakistan.
The Afghan dialogue comes close on the heels of the sixth round of annual Sino-Indian counter-terrorism talks.