Pakistan welcomes Afghan Taliban’s interest in being part of China’s economic corridor projects 

ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said on Monday Pakistan welcomed the Afghan Taliban’s interest in being part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project.
CPEC has seen Beijing pledge over $60 billion for energy and infrastructure projects in Pakistan. The corridor is central to China’s wider Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to develop land and sea trade routes in Asia, Europe and beyond. In the past, China and Pakistan have both said they will look at extending the corridor to Afghanistan.
In a press conference on Monday, Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid said Afghanistan wanted to engage in economic activity with other nations and was keen to be part of CPEC.
“It is a good thing if they [Taliban] have decided [to join CPEC],” the Pakistani interior minister said while talking to reporters in Islamabad, adding that CPEC was Pakistan’s economic “jugular vein” and Islamabad was proud of its friendship with Beijing. “It is a good thing if the Taliban think the same.”
In a briefing last week, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said China had long supported peace and reconstruction in Afghanistan, provided assistance for its socioeconomic development and played a positive role in the war-torn nation’s endeavor to realize self-reliant growth and improve livelihood.
“China-Afghanistan cooperation under the BRI framework has also delivered tangible benefits to our two peoples. We’ve noticed that the Afghan Taliban has stated its commitment to fostering an enabling environment for foreign investors,” Wenbin said.
He said BRI could contribute to national and regional development and prosperity: “We hope there will be a steady transition in Afghanistan to deliver enduring peace and stability, which is the premise for external cooperation, and foreign investment and business presence in the country.”
China has for long sought to bring Kabul and Islamabad together partly due to Chinese fears about the spread of militancy from Pakistan and Afghanistan to the unrest-prone far western Chinese region of Xinjiang.
As such, China has pushed for Pakistan and Afghanistan to improve their own ties so they can better tackle the violence in their respective countries, and has also tried to broker peace talks with Afghan Taliban militants, to limited effect.