Taliban asks to join Belt and Road

The Afghan government wants to participate in Chinese-led infrastructure projects.

According to acting Commerce Minister Haji Nooruddin Azizi, the Taliban administration of Afghanistan has requested membership in China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and would send a technical team to Beijing to negotiate admission.

A delegation from Kabul attended the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, which ended on Wednesday. A deal on the digital economy and green development was reached by 35 nations, including Afghanistan, outside of the summit.

According to Azizi, “We requested China to allow us to participate in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and Belt and Road Initiative.” The corridor is a significant component of the BRI, China’s huge infrastructure project in Asia that aims to promote trade and commerce on a global scale.

Without providing any further details, Azizi announced that an Afghan technical team would travel to China to “better understand” the remaining barriers to joining the effort.

“China, which invests all over the world, should also invest in Afghanistan… we have everything they need, such as lithium, copper, and iron,” Azizi told Reuters. More than ever, Afghanistan is prepared for investment.

Many Chinese businesses currently conduct mining operations in Afghanistan. In order to establish a significant copper mine, the Metallurgical Corp. of China Ltd (MCC) has been in talks with the Taliban.

The talks have been delayed because the mine would be close to a historical landmark, said Azizi. “The Chinese company has made a huge investment, and we support them,” Azizi said.

Following the Taliban takeover in August 2021, China became the first nation to appoint a new ambassador to Kabul last month. Even before the final American forces left Afghanistan, the previous, US-supported government had capitulated without much of a struggle.

Since then, the US has frozen $7 billion in funds held at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York by the Afghan central bank. Additionally, $2 billion that was kept in the UK, Germany, the UAE, and various other nations was frozen.