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ISLAMABAD: The Taliban have agreed with China and Pakistan to extend Belt and Road Initiative (Belt and Road Initiative) to Afghanistan, which will potentially draw in billions of dollars to finance infrastructure projects in the sanctions-hit country.
Chinese Foreign Minister Chen Gang and his Pakistani counterpart Bilawal Bhutto Zardari met in Islamabad on Saturday and pledged to work together on Afghanistan’s reconstruction process, including the transfer of the $60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor to the Taliban-ruled country.
A joint statement issued by the Pakistani Foreign Ministry stated that “the two sides agreed to continue their humanitarian and economic assistance to the Afghan people and to enhance development cooperation in Afghanistan.”
Chinese and Pakistani officials have previously discussed extending the project to Afghanistan. The cash-strapped Taliban government has expressed willingness to participate in the project and potentially secure much-needed infrastructure investment.
Hafiz Zia Ahmed, deputy Taliban spokesman, said by telephone that Amir Khan Mottaki, the Taliban’s top diplomat, had traveled to Islamabad to meet his Chinese and Pakistani counterparts and reached an agreement.
The Taliban also hoped that China would boost its investment in the country’s rich resources, which are estimated at nearly $1 trillion. The government signed its first contract in January with a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation to extract oil from the Amu Darya basin. The Chinese and Pakistani ministers also stressed the need to unfreeze Afghan assets abroad. The Taliban have been denied access to about $9 billion in Afghan Central Bank reserves held abroad due to fears that the money could be used for terrorist activities.
Washington later agreed to release half of it to support the economy, but it froze it after the Taliban imposed certain restrictions on studying and working on Afghan women last year.
China, Russia and Iran are among a handful of countries that maintain warm relations with the Taliban. They provided assistance to the Taliban, but stopped short of formal recognition of the government.
Chinese Foreign Minister Chen Gang and his Pakistani counterpart Bilawal Bhutto Zardari met in Islamabad on Saturday and pledged to work together on Afghanistan’s reconstruction process, including the transfer of the $60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor to the Taliban-ruled country.
A joint statement issued by the Pakistani Foreign Ministry stated that “the two sides agreed to continue their humanitarian and economic assistance to the Afghan people and to enhance development cooperation in Afghanistan.”
Chinese and Pakistani officials have previously discussed extending the project to Afghanistan. The cash-strapped Taliban government has expressed willingness to participate in the project and potentially secure much-needed infrastructure investment.
Hafiz Zia Ahmed, deputy Taliban spokesman, said by telephone that Amir Khan Mottaki, the Taliban’s top diplomat, had traveled to Islamabad to meet his Chinese and Pakistani counterparts and reached an agreement.
The Taliban also hoped that China would boost its investment in the country’s rich resources, which are estimated at nearly $1 trillion. The government signed its first contract in January with a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation to extract oil from the Amu Darya basin. The Chinese and Pakistani ministers also stressed the need to unfreeze Afghan assets abroad. The Taliban have been denied access to about $9 billion in Afghan Central Bank reserves held abroad due to fears that the money could be used for terrorist activities.
Washington later agreed to release half of it to support the economy, but it froze it after the Taliban imposed certain restrictions on studying and working on Afghan women last year.
China, Russia and Iran are among a handful of countries that maintain warm relations with the Taliban. They provided assistance to the Taliban, but stopped short of formal recognition of the government.
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