Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has reached Afghanistan on Wednesday after his visit to India, keeping in mind India’s sensitivity, he avoided Delhi directly from Delhi to Islamabad. He will take part in the tripartite conference to be held in Kabul. Apart from Afghanistan, Chinese Foreign Minister, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister will also be hosted. This tripartite conference will discuss the expansion and economic support of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). India is also keeping an eye on this meeting.
What does Afghanistan want?
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi had earlier also interacted with Afghanistan’s acting External Affairs Minister Aamir Khan Mottaki. Wang Yi, who is also a member of the Political Bureau of the CPEC Central Committee, is on a broad regional tour. The Chinese Foreign Minister will also visit Pakistan on August 21.
Also read: China, Pak and Taliban government will expand the CPEC project to Afghanistan.
According to Bloomberg report, this will be the first high level meeting led by the Afghan Taliban since coming to power four years ago, which is also aimed at strengthening its international validity attempt. Afghanistan’s Foreign Ministry Deputy Spokesperson Hafiz Zia Ahmed said in a post on X, “Many important issues will be discussed between the three countries including political, economic and regional cooperation.”
Why did Chinese Foreign Minister reach Kabul?
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi Taliban Foreign Minister Aamir Khan Mottaki and Pakistan Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar will attend this day-long meeting. The conference promotes the validity efforts of the Taliban on the global platform and is willing to attend this meeting despite not getting formal recognition from major regional countries. Russia has recently become the first country to formally recognize the Taliban administration in Afghanistan.
On the other hand, Beijing has adopted the Taliban’s return to power fast and helped to increase its influence from a diplomatic perspective, exploit Afghanistan’s huge mineral resources and to carry forward its Belt and Road Infrastructure (BRI) initiative. Wang also visited Kabul in 2022, where he discussed joint efforts to promote trade and rebuild the country’s economy.
Pak emphasis on increasing business
Regarding this meeting on behalf of Pakistan, it has been said that Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar will attend the meeting of Tripartial Foreign Ministers to be held in Kabul. He will be accompanied by Special Representative, Ambassador Mohammad Sadiq, and senior officials of the Ministry of External Affairs for Afghanistan. During the meeting, there will be discussion in the fields of increasing cooperation between three countries, especially business, regional contact and terrorism. Ishaq Dar will also hold a bilateral meeting with the acting foreign minister of Afghanistan to discuss bilateral issues between the two countries.
Also read: First CPEC and now rail projects … China’s move to bring Afghanistan-Pakistan together
Earlier, the fifth tripartite conference between the three countries was held in Beijing in May and during this time it was agreed to include Afghanistan in the CPEC. By the way, China first proposed to join Afghanistan with CPEC in December 2017, under which China wants to build a motorway from Peshawar to Kabul. Afghanistan also agrees on this proposal. Now in this sixth round of talks, further strategy can be discussed.
What are India’s concerns?
This meeting remains a matter of concern in terms of India, because India has been strongly opposing CPEC. This corridor passes through POK and is a violation of India’s sovereignty and regional integrity. In such a situation, after the association of Afghanistan with this project, Pakistan can strengthen its claim on the occupied area, which India will not tolerate at any cost.
Apart from this, many development projects of India are going on in Afghanistan and this agreement may shock them. India has invested more than three billion dollars in Afghanistan. India has investment in infrastructure projects such as roads, power plants, dams and even the construction of Parliament House in Afghanistan. If Afghanistan connects with CPEC, then India’s rival China can evict it. At the same time, this will also increase the threat of terrorism in the entire region, because Pakistan already has a stake in this project.
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