Trilateral Foreign Ministers’ Dialogue
The China-Pakistan-Afghanistan trilateral foreign ministers’ dialogue ended in Islamabad. Interim afghan foreign minister, Molavi Amir Khan Muttaqi led the high-level delegation at the dialogue while Chinese foreign minister, Qin Gang was leading his country’s delegations in the dialogue. China’s foreign minister met officials from the Taliban at the weekend as Beijing explores boosting investment in Afghanistan, including bringing the crisis-hit country into its Belt and Road infrastructure project. Qin Gang will hold talks on Saturday in Pakistan with Afghanistan’s acting foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, and Pakistan’s Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Saturday as part of the China-Pakistan-Afghanistan Trilateral Foreign Ministers’ Dialogue. The three ministers will discuss “regional stability and transit”, according to Afghanistan’s foreign ministry, along with boosting trade ties. The meeting comes after China’s foreign ministry said last month that it “welcomes Afghanistan’s participation in Belt and Road co-operation and supports Afghanistan’s integration into regional economic co-operation and connectivity.
The Taliban have courted global powers including China and Russia for investment to shore up the crumbling economy and ease the regime’s international isolation. This includes efforts to attract Chinese infrastructure investment to connect Afghanistan with neighbors, such as Pakistan, through BRI. Please use the sharing tools found via the share button at the top or side of articles. Chinese and Afghan officials said in January that the state-run Xinjiang Central Asia Petroleum and Gas Company had agreed a deal to drill for oil in the country. The Taliban also last year agreed a deal with Russia to source oil and wheat. But while Afghanistan’s rich, unexplored reserves of minerals such as lithium and copper have long enticed foreign nations, meaningful investment in infrastructure or mining has so far proved prohibitively difficult because of the precarious security situation.
The Taliban are expected to deliver their promises to come up with an inclusive government and ensuring the representation of the full spectrum of political forces in Afghanistan. The Taliban has also imposed their hard-line ideology, banning girls and women from education and work. This has prompted many foreign governments to break off engagement with the group. Besides, the Taliban should left ban on girls education so that the international community could openly come to help the suffering Afghans in the country.
