China’s Belt and Road Forum is hosting Taliban for probable BRI partnership

Despite Taliban government has not been formally recognised by any government since taking control of Afghanistan two years ago the Taliban will attend China’s Belt and Road Forum next week in Beijing.

A spokesman of minister for commerce & industry Akhundzada Abdul Salam Jawad stated that the acting minister Haji Nooruddin Azizi, will travel to Beijing in the coming days to invite large investors to Afghanistan.

Afghanistan is a coveted mineral rich country which by an estimate in 2010 had untapped deposits, ranging from copper to gold and lithium, worth between $1 trillion and $3 trillion.

Officials from China, the Taliban and neighbouring Pakistan said in May they would like Belt and Road to include Afghanistan and for the flagship China Pakistan Economic Corridor to be extended across the border to Afghanistan.

The forum in Beijing on Tuesday and Wednesday marks the 10th anniversary of President Xi Jinping’s ambitious global infrastructure and energy initiative, billed as recreating the ancient Silk Road to boost global trade.

China has boosted engagement with the Taliban, becoming the first country to appoint an ambassador to Kabul since the Taliban took power, and invested in mining projects.

Other nations have kept on previous ambassadors or appointed heads of mission in a charge d’affaires capacity that does not involve formally presenting credentials to the government.