New Delhi: So, finally the Taliban 2.0 has unveiled its government. It has no surprises. It is a no show on the much-trumpeted inclusiveness.
There was brazenness though. Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund, who heads what has been officially billed as the caretaker set-up for the next six months, had etched his name in record books 20 years ago by ordering the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddha statues that date back to the sixth century.
At least 17 of the 33-member ministry in the new set-up figure on the UN sanctions list. It is an all-Pashtun team. Women have been shown the door as if to teach a lesson to the women groups which have hit the Kabul streets demanding their place under the Taliban sun. In fact, the Ministry of Women's Affairs, which did pioneer work under the Ashraf Ghani regime, stands disbanded now.
Both Moscow and China are not hiding their apprehensions. Both are no longer sure of influencing Kabul, which has slipped firmly into Rawalpindi's grip.
"No plan of negotiations with the Taliban regime," say the Russian officials while slipping in the caveat that contacts through the embassy in Kabul would be maintained to "ensure the safety of our diplomats" et al.
In his media interaction on Wednesday, Dmitry Peskov, press secretary to President Vladimir Putin, echoed Moscow's concerns that are as old as Hindukush mountains.
"We have talked many times about the threat that can potentially emanate from Afghanistan," he said when he was asked if Russia sees a threat to its security from the Taliban. He identified the threats as drug trafficking and infiltration of terrorist groups.
Russia has just reinforced its Tajikistan military facility with 12.7 mm heavy machine guns, NSV Utyos. This shows that Moscow is not letting its guard down. The new guns can destroy lightly armoured targets, fortified firing points and enemy air assets from a distance of 100 metres to 5 1/2 kilometres.
China is not hiding its cold feet though it is providing emergency aid of 200 million yuan ($31 million) to Afghanistan, including food and three million COVID-19 vaccine doses.
China is worried by reports that some international terror forces based in Afghanistan are already crossing the borders into the neighbouring countries, said a front-page dispatch in South China Morning Post (SCMP) on Thursday.
"Taliban must cut its ties with all terrorist groups," Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said at his virtual meeting with the war torn-country's neighbours - Pakistan, Iran, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.
Natural corollary is the Chinese demand to Taliban: "Take forceful combative measures."
China expects its Afghan neighbours to chip in with counter-terrorism measures.
Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Muhammad Qureshi demurred as Wang delivered his punch line but offered neither a protest, nor held out a promise of action.
This is surprising since the composition of the Taliban government bears Pakistani stamp and has exposed its time-tested double-speak.
There are one too many giveaways.
Firstly, the interim team was announced within three days of the visit of the head of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Lt Gen Faiz Hameed, to the blood-soaked Kabul city.
Secondly, the team carries Hameed's imprint with the all-important interior ministry entrusted to ISI protege, Sirajuddin Haqqani.
Not only Sirajuddin, several others in the ministerial team are known hardliners. All of them toe Rawalpindi Shura (Pak Army's Corps Commanders) line.
Their dominance signals that the Taliban government would keep India at bay. It interalia means that the Taliban would help the likes of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) with local bases for renewed export of terror to Kashmir. All a part of the IOYs since LeT and JeM had rushed their armed cadres to Afghanistan to fight along with the Taliban 2.0.
The composition of the interim government has surprised the observers and diplomats alike who expected to see the Taliban don the mantle of moderation. And embrace the minority ethnic groups, which also had fought alongside the Taliban warriors all these years of American presence on the Afghan soil.
Pakistan had also gone to the town declaring that it was expecting an inclusive government in Kabul.
Prime Minister Imran Khan and his army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, who is the real architect of the latest Taliban victory, have been harping on inclusive mantra.
The turn of events show that Pakistan orchestration was a deceptive game. Its real intent was installing Sirajuddin Haqqani as the real power Tsar and thus secure back seat driving rights for the ISI.
The new government supremo, Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund, heads Rehbari Shura, the Kandahar-based Taliban's decision-making body. He pipped the much-fancied Abdul Ghani Baradar, who, with his Doha stint, has cemented his pro-America image.
The new ministers leave no doubt that Afghanistan would be run according to the Sharia laws. There will be no concessions whatsoever. Hopes of chastened Taliban in the driver's seat have died with the ban on protests and slogans that don't have 'approval'.
Ministry of Vice and Virtue returns
The Taliban have appointed a minister for the promotion of 'virtue' and the prevention of 'vice', according to the list of the newly-announced cabinet for the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
When the Taliban were in power during between 1996 and 2001, they had enforced an extreme hardline interpretation of Sharia.
Women were banned from leaving their homes without a male escort, and they also had to wear burqas, covering the body from head to toe.
Under the Taliban rule, there was gender segregation in most public locations, limits on which jobs women could hold, bans were in place on listening to music and watching television, and men were on occasion forced to grow their hair and beards, Al Arabiya reported.
The ministry for promotion of virtue and the prevention of vice was disbanded by then President Hamid Karzai after the US invaded Afghanistan in 2001, and was replaced by the Ministry of Hajj and Religious Affairs.
After the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan on August 15 this year, they launched a charm offensive to project a moderate image to the world, promising not to retaliate against employees of foreign governments and to protect the rights of women.
Activists and local journalists, however, say the reality on the ground is quite different, with many concerning reports of home searches and arrests of the very people the Taliban said they would not retaliate against, the report added.
Women activists and former female political leaders say that they expect to be treated as "second class" citizens at best.