Pakistan, China agree to extend CPEC to Afghanistan
In a key diplomatic meeting in Beijing, Pakistan, China, and Afghanistan agreed to advance regional cooperation by extending the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to
China clearly has aspirations to strengthen regional connectivity by capitalizing on Afghanistan's geographical location, but these are tempered by challenges including armed terrorist groups like ISIS, limited basic infrastructure, and humanitarian issues.
In May 2023, at the China, Pakistan, and Afghanistan Foreign Ministers' Dialogue, the three countries agreed to extend the BRI to Afghanistan. However, differences of opinion persisted. China and Pakistan framed the agreement as the extension of CPEC in Afghanistan.
However, for China, this largely constituted previously existing plans; for example, China has nominally attempted to incorporate Afghanistan under the Belt and Road Initiative existing since at least 2016, with a plan to extend the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to Afghanistan introduced in 2019 as the means.
Hamaun Afghan, spokesperson for Afghanistan's Ministry of Mines and Petroleum, said the decision was approved by the Taliban's Prime Minister Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund. The ministry said the Chinese side didn't deliver its promised investments on time, didn't pay royalties or finish promised geological surveys and infrastructure projects.
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