Islamabad: The Taliban agreed with China and Pakistan to extend the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to Afghanistan, potentially drawing in billions of dollars to fund infrastructure projects in the sanctions-hit country. As part of their agreement to cooperate on Afghanistan's rehabilitation, including bringing the $60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor to the Taliban-ruled country, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang and his Pakistani counterpart Bilawal Bhutto Zardari met in Islamabad.
“The two sides agreed to continue their humanitarian and economic assistance for the Afghan people and enhance development cooperation in Afghanistan,” according to a joint statement issued by Pakistan’s foreign ministry.
Officials from China and Pakistan have previously talked about expanding the project to Afghanistan. The cash-strapped Taliban government has stated its willingness to take part in the endeavour and the opportunity to get much-needed infrastructure funding.
The Taliban’s top diplomat Amir Khan Muttaqi travelled to Islamabad to meet his Chinese and Pakistani counterparts and reached an agreement, his deputy spokesman Hafiz Zia Ahmad said.
The Taliban have also harboured hopes for China to boost investments in the country’s rich resources, estimated to be $1 trillion. The government inked 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 on the need to unfreeze Afghanistan’s overseas assets. The Taliban have been blocked from accessing about $9 billion of Afghanistan’s central bank reserves held overseas on concerns the funds will be used for terror activities.