China, Russia pip US to the Taliban hearth
by M. K. Bhadrakumar,* India
(16 February 2024) The diplomatic recognition of the Taliban government in Afghanistan on January 31, 2024 by China must be bracketed with two other far-reaching regional policy moves by Beijing in the post-cold war era – the Shanghai Five in 1996 – later renamed as Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in 2001– and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) announced by President Xi Jinping in 2013.