Taliban will Join China’s Belt and Road Initiative

The acting commerce minister Haji Nooruddin Azizi of the Taliban administration shows interest to formally join President Xi Jinping’s huge Belt and Road Infrastructure initiative and will send a technical team to China for discussions.

• According to Azizi China will allow Afghanistan to be a part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and Belt and Road Initiative.
• Despite no country formally recognizing the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan after it took over the country in 2021, China has been seeking to establish relations with the administration. 
• This is mainly because Afghanistan is rich in mineral resources that China is interested in. In fact, China was the first country to appoint an ambassador to Kabul since the Taliban took power. 
• Other nations, on the other hand, have either maintained their previous ambassadors or appointed heads of mission in a charge d'affaires capacity, which does not involve formally presenting credentials to the government.
• Leader of the Taliban is Hibatullah Akhundzada.

Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)

• BRI, also known as the New Silk Road, is a major infrastructure project which was launched in 2013 by President Xi Jinping of China. 
• The initiative involves a comprehensive set of development and investment programs designed to connect East Asia and Europe through physical infrastructure. 
• It is considered one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects ever undertaken.
• The plan consisted of two parts: 
  • Land Silk Road Economic Belt 
  • Maritime Silk Road 
• Together, they were initially called the One Belt, One Road initiative but later became the Belt and Road Initiative..
• The project has expanded to Africa, Oceania, and Latin America

About CPEC

• Launched on April 20, 2015, the purpose of CPEC is to modernize Pakistan's transportation systems such as road, rail, air, and energy, and also establish overland routes to connect the deep-sea ports of Gwadar and Karachi to the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in China and beyond. The ultimate aim of this project is to transform Pakistan's economy.
• India opposes the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as it passes through the territory of Pakistan that is currently under illegal occupation by India, commonly known as Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
• The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is a major project of the "Belt and Road" initiative, as it is located at the intersection of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.
• The plan aims to finish all the projects by 2030.