ISLAMABAD: Representatives of Russia, China, the United States and Pakistan have agreed that negotiation is the only road to peace in Afghanistan, including an early resumption of direct US talks with the Taliban.
The day-long talks in Moscow on Friday came ahead of an intra-Afghan dialogue to be hosted by China. The Beijing talks, which initially were to be held next week, have been postponed, according to officials familiar with the talks. Speaking on condition they not be identified because of they were not authorized to talk about the subject, they said the postponement would be brief but no new date was given.
When the China talks take place, they will be the first face-to-face discussions between Afghan warring sides since July. Even President Ashraf Ghani, who has objected to any talks not led by his government, said late Friday that he would send representatives.
There has been no official announcement of a postponement, but previous intra-Afghan talks have been delayed while both sides squabbled over participants.
Earlier on Friday, a government official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity for the same reason, had said Ghani was opposed to participation in the talks.
It wasn’t clear what changed Ghani’s mind or whether he had requested a postponement, but a number of prominent Afghans from Kabul are expected to attend the China meeting, including former President Hamid Karzai, who has been a strong proponent of direct talks with the Taliban. He participated in earlier sessions of talks with the Taliban held in Moscow.
The Taliban delegation to China will be led by Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, co-founder of the movement, who spent eight years in a Pakistani jail after he secretly opened peace talks in 2010 with Karzai, who was president at the time. Baradar was arrested in a joint American CIA and Pakistani anti-terrorism agency operation. Neither Pakistan nor the United States were ready for peace talks with the Taliban in 2010, Karzai previously told The Associated Press.
The Taliban are the strongest they have been since being ousted in 2001 by a US-led coalition holding sway in nearly 50% of the country.
In a draft statement released at the end of Friday’s meeting in Moscow, China, Russia and Pakistan called on Washington to return to the negotiation table with the Taliban and sign an agreement that will set the stage for Afghans on both sides of the protracted conflict to start face-to-face negotiations on what a post-war Afghanistan would look like.
After nearly a year of direct talks, US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad had all but signed a peace deal with the Taliban until President Donald Trump in September declared the talks dead after a series of Taliban attacks killed several people, including a US soldier.
It’s not clear what it would take for Trump to agree to restart talks, but the US president has insisted he wants American troops out of Afghanistan and an end to American involvement in what has become their longest military engagement.
Trump has vowed at recent rallies to make good on his 2016 campaign promise to end American involvement in what he has described as endless wars, including Afghanistan, generating fears among some observers of a surprise tweet suddenly ordering troops home.
Friday’s statement called for a reduction in violence, which some observers say might convince Trump to agree to renewed talks.
The United Nations, however, earlier this month called for all sides to reduce their attacks, which have caused more than 8,000 civilian casualties so far this year. The casualties have been caused by all sides in the conflict, including stepped-up US airstrikes in combat operations.
The representatives, which have met previously, agreed to meet again.
US meets China, Russia and Pakistan to talk Afghan peace
US meets China, Russia and Pakistan to talk Afghan peace
- Agreed that negotiation is the only road to peace in Afghanistan
- The day-long talks in Moscow called for an early resumption of direct US talks with the Taliban
US commits $1.25 billion EXIM financing for Pakistan’s Reko Diq mine — envoy
- Financing could unlock up to $2 billion in US mining equipment exports, create 13,500 jobs across Pakistan and US
- Move aligns with Pakistan’s push to close $3.5 billion debt package for world-class copper-gold mine in Balochistan
KARACHI: Washington has approved $1.25 billion in US Export-Import Bank financing for Pakistan’s Reko Diq copper-gold mine, Acting US ambassador Natalie Baker said in a video message on Wednesday, adding that the package could unlock up to $2 billion in US equipment and service exports for the project.
The facility, one of the largest US financing decisions in Pakistan’s minerals sector, is expected to help pave the way for US-sourced mining technology, drilling machinery and operations support, while creating jobs in both countries and accelerating development of one of the world’s largest untapped copper deposits.
The $7 billion Reko Diq project, located in the mineral-rich southwestern province of Balochistan, is being developed by Canadian mining giant Barrick Gold in partnership with Pakistan’s federal and provincial governments. The mine is central to Pakistan’s effort to expand exports, attract foreign investment and open the country’s largely untapped critical minerals reserves, a segment where copper plays a key role in electric vehicles, renewable energy, AI hardware and global supply chains. Saudi Arabia’s Manara Minerals, a Public Investment Fund and Ma’aden joint venture, has also expressed intent to acquire a 15 percent stake.
“I am pleased to highlight the US Export-Import Bank recently approved financing of $1.25 billion to support the mining of critical minerals at Riko Diq in Pakistan,” Baker said.
“In the coming years, EXIM’s project financing will bring in up to $2 billion in high-quality US mining equipment and services needed to build and operate the Riko Diq mine, along with creating an estimated 6,000 jobs in the US and 7,500 jobs in Balochistan, Pakistan.”
The envoy added that the deal reflects the strategic direction of US commercial diplomacy.
“The Riko Diq project serves as the model for mining projects that will benefit US exporters as well as local Pakistani communities and partners by bringing employment and prosperity to both our nations,” Baker added. “The Trump administration has made the forging of deals exactly like this one central to American diplomacy.”
SECURITY CHALLENGES
Speaking to Arab News last month, Pakistan’s Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said the broader debt package for Reko Diq was nearly complete, anchored by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and expected to total about $3.5 billion.
“The financial close, from my perspective, is around the corner,” he said, adding that EXIM participation had been delayed only due to a temporary US government shutdown restrictions, now lifted.
If financing closes on schedule, Reko Diq is projected to generate $2.8 billion in export potential in its first year of shipment, nearly 10 percent of Pakistan’s existing export volume, and could embed the US as a long-term strategic investor alongside Canadian and Saudi partners. The project added 13 million ounces to Barrick’s gold reserves in 2024 and is expected to produce 200,000 metric tons of copper a year in its first phase, doubling after expansion, with projected free cash flow of more than $70 billion over 37 years.
Lenders including the International Finance Corporation and the Asian Development Bank among others are assembling a financing package exceeding $2.6 billion.
Balochistan suffers frequent attacks by separatists and other militants, making security a major concern for the mining scheme. The project also requires a railway line upgrade to transport copper concentrate to Karachi for processing abroad.
Barrick returned to Pakistan in 2022 after a years-long legal dispute was settled, and the mine has since become a flagship investment for the country as it seeks to draw more capital into its minerals sector.
