China attempts to 'mainstream' Taliban via Belt & Road Forum
China's Belt and Road Forum this week is likely to «mainstream» the group in the presence of more than 120 countries invited to the mega gathering. The Taliban leadership will attend a summit for the first time since storming to power in August 2021.
The move is also an attempt to create a wedge with India and use the first-mover advantage with the Taliban, according to people in the know.
Taliban officials and ministers have at times travelled to regional meetings, but the Belt and Road Forum is the first high-profile summit where Taliban has been invited officially, according to one of the people mentioned above.
This, he added, would help mainstream Taliban.
Taliban's acting minister for commerce and industry Haji Nooruddin Azizi will be present at the summit to be held in Beijing on Tuesday and Wednesday. Afghanistan has untapped and unexplored deposits including copper, gold and lithium worth around $3 trillion, according to some estimates.
China has been in talks with Taliban representatives to take over a huge copper mine in eastern Afghanistan.
This edition of the Belt and Road summit marks the 10th anniversary of the launch of the initiative and Beijing has been keen to link Afghanistan to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, the flagship project of the initiative. Azizi will hold discussions in Beijing on plans to build a road through the Wakhan corridor in northern Afghanistan to provide direct access to China, according to some reports.
Beijing fears that Ugyhurs might be able to get support via the Wakhan corridor.
The Taliban has not been formally recognised by any government. China has boosted engagement with the Taliban, becoming the first country to appoint an envoy to Kabul since the Taliban
