China will not be the first international government to recognise Taliban government as the official command of Afghanistan, an expert has claimed.

The Asian country will only recognise Taliban’s government in Afghanistan in a coordinated move with Pakistan, Russia and Iran. This statement from a source close to the Chinese government has come almost a week after China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, met members of Taliban government in Qatar this week.

“Things will be different when the four countries of China, Pakistan, Russia and Iran arrive at a consensus on this. We will not be the first,” said Hu Shisheng, a South Asian expert at China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations (CICR), the official think-tank of China’s national security apparatus. China’s intentions behind befriending Taliban are somewhat related to their fear that the US government is on a road to develop a stronger relationship with India. The intentions behind this were made clear by Chinese authorities at Beijing Xiangshan Forum, a security forum by an official think-tank of the military.

Promoting China’s view on security around the world, the foreign minister claimed that that Beijing is assuming that the US will aim to strengthen its military cooperation with India since it has withdrawn its troops from Afghanistan. Hu claimed that China has not dismissed the possibility of India being more ‘adventurous’ in dealing with security issues with China.

He claimed that Beijing believes that “new skirmishes cannot be totally ruled out” in the case of China and India. Hu also added that the Xi Jinping government is hopeful that Taliban government will help put a stop to the spread of Islamist militancy in the South Asian area which will have a positive impact on China’s ‘belt and road’ initiative. China is also worried that the US can divert its resources (earlier invested in Afghanistan) to other regions near South China Sea to create problems for Beijing. “The United States invested $2 trillion in Afghanistan over the past 20 years. Even if it only diverts $50 billion… China’s going to feel a lot of pressure,” Hu said. The country is also worried about new and upcoming US bases in neighbouring areas. “The US says the bases are for fighting Afghan terrorists, but it could have other motives related to China and Russia,” Du Nongyi, vice chairman of the China Institute for International Strategic Studies, a think-tank with links to Chinese military, told Reuters. “Central Asia is Russia’s backyard. We can’t let the United States have a foothold.”