Musharraf would have to choose between defying the U.S. and the UN to appease Muslim fundamentalists at home or risk them destabilizing his country. Pakistan's loss would be India's gain. On November 21, an Indian-Russian working group said the Taliban had failed to break its links with terrorists and called for additional UN sanctions. Western diplomats and aid workers say India is providing Masud's forces with arms, helicopters, money and a field hospital. India's overall aim is to further isolate Pakistan to pressure it over disputed Kashmir.
New sanctions pose a dilemma for China.
While keen to undermine the Taliban for giving aid and refuge to Uighur separatists from the Xinjiang region in northwest China, Beijing usually opposes sanctions. Though the Chinese voted in favour of last year's mild sanctions against the Taliban, they plan to abstain in the Security Council on any new package. Washington is wooing Beijing by giving it intelligence on Uighur separatists in Afghanistan. And on November 21, the U.S. waived sanctions against Beijing over its export of missiles but reimposed sanctions on Pakistan and Iran, which received the missiles. Russia meanwhile wants China to back Masud's forces, which control the Afghan-Chinese border.