The withdrawal of the United States from Afghanistan has left a lasting impact on both Afghanistan’s future and on Asian geopolitics. It has also brought China into focus. This book traces the emergence of China as a key player in Afghanistan and the evolution of China’s Afghan policy especially with respect to its relations with the Taliban. Beijing's dominant role in Afghanistan’s future is a potentially game-changing development in Asian geopolitics, even if questions remain about the former's appetite to step in to fill the void and the limits of its ambitions. In The Comrades and the Mullahs, Ananth Krishnan and Stanly Johny examine what Beijing’s interests are and the drivers of its foreign policy, and, more specifically, how its new Silk Road project―the Belt and Road Initiative―is shaping China–Afghan relations. They look at how Afghanistan has emerged as a key point on the corridor heading west from Xinjiang, and discuss the Xinjiang factor, drawing on their travels to China’s western frontiers, as well as the internal dynamics that are pushing Beijing’s westward march. Another factor is the East Turkestan Islamic Movement and the terror groups that are leading to an increasingly securitized approach to China’s western regions and beyond, including possible Chinese plans to deploy special forces along the China–Afghan border areas in the Wakhan corridor and Badakhshan region. China’s Afghan engagement has also deepened its ‘all-weather’ alliance with Pakistan―with Beijing increasingly leaning on Islamabad, particularly in its outreach to the Taliban and other elements in Afghanistan that have long been supported by the Pakistani state―and is a perennial source of tension between Islamabad and Kabul. The authors show how this increasing closeness is alarming for India, and might have far-reaching consequences, especially in Kashmir.

美国从阿富汗撤军，对阿富汗的未来和亚洲地缘政治都留下了持久的影响。它也使中国成为焦点。本书追溯了中国作为阿富汗的一个关键角色的出现，以及中国阿富汗政策的演变，特别是与塔利班的关系。北京在阿富汗未来的主导作用是亚洲地缘政治中潜在的改变游戏规则的发展，尽管对于前者介入填补空白的欲望和其野心的局限性仍有疑问。在《同志与毛拉》中，Ananth Krishnan和Stanly Johny研究了北京的利益和其外交政策的驱动力，更具体地说，其新的丝绸之路项目--"一带一路 "倡议--是如何塑造中国与阿富汗关系的。他们研究了阿富汗如何成为从新疆向西的走廊上的一个关键点，并根据他们在中国西部边疆的旅行讨论了新疆因素，以及推动北京向西进军的内部动力。另一个因素是东突厥斯坦伊斯兰运动和恐怖组织，它们正导致中国西部地区和其他地区越来越安全化，包括中国可能计划在瓦罕走廊和巴达赫尚地区的中国-阿富汗边境地区部署特种部队。中国在阿富汗的参与也加深了它与巴基斯坦的 "全天候 "联盟--北京越来越倚重伊斯兰堡，特别是在与塔利班和阿富汗其他长期受到巴基斯坦国家支持的分子的接触中，这也是伊斯兰堡和喀布尔之间长期紧张的根源。作者展示了这种日益密切的关系如何令印度感到震惊，并可能产生深远的影响，特别是在克什米尔。