China Using Influence To 'Gain Acceptability' For Taliban With Invitation To BRI Forum: Expert

As part of Beijing's effort to normalize cooperation with the Taliban, China has extended an invitation to Afghanistan to attend the upcoming Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) forum.

An Afghani spokesperson has confirmed that a representative for Taliban-led Afghanistan would attend the forum, which includes Russian President Vladimir Putin on the guest list. Leaders of countries from Latin America to Africa will also be rubbing shoulders at the forum.

"China is using its influence in Afghanistan to gain acceptability for the Taliban through economic advantages," Shanthie D'Souza, founder and president of Mantraya, an independent research forum, told International Business Times.

China is due to host representatives from around 130 countries for a two-day conference, held on Oct. 17-18, to mark the 10th anniversary of BRI.

Haji Nooruddin Azizi, the Taliban's acting minister for commerce and industry, is expected to attend the forum, ministry spokesman Akhundzada Abdul Salam Jawad told Reuters.

This would be the first time the Taliban leadership is attending a forum since its return to power in Afghanistan in August 2021. Taliban officials have traveled to attend regional meetings focused on Afghanistan, but never participated in anything as high-profile as the China-hosted BRI forum.

Since the 2021 withdrawal of the U.S. forces from Afghanistan, Beijing has stretched the legs of its engagement policy with Afghanistan and funneled investments to the country for its own overarching interests in the region.

"China's foreign policy in Eurasia involves self-driven diplomacy and hegemonic pursuits to achieve its geo-security and geoeconomic interest," Ayjaz Wani, a fellow in the Strategic Studies Programme at Indian think tank Observer Research Foundation (ORF), told IBT.

"This foreign policy agenda explains China's cultivation of ties with the Taliban," Wani added.

In addition to bolstering engagement with the regime, China has also become the first nation to appoint an ambassador to Kabul in September since the Taliban, which has been slammed for violation of human rights and suppression of women's rights, took control of the country. The move made Beijing's cooperation with the Tablian more "explicit," said Shivam Shekhawat, Junior Fellow at ORF.

"It is important for us to view this development in the overall outreach that Beijing has extended to the Taliban," she told IBT about the Taliban's participation at the BRI forum.

"Last month, China became the first country to appoint a new ambassador to Afghanistan in a public ceremony with much pomp and show. This public spectacle was done to send across a signal and to make its de facto cooperation with the group more explicit," she added.

In May this year, foreign ministers from China, Pakistan and Afghanistan reaffirmed their commitment to extend the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) -- a flagship project under BRI that was seen as a game changer for Pakistan's infrastructure during CPEC's inception in 2013 -- to Afghanistan. The inclusion of Kabul in the project benefits China and Pakistan, and is also a win for the Taliban in its struggle to attract investments.

"During the last meeting of the Foreign Ministers' of Afghanistan's neighbors as well, both Beijing and Islamabad expressed their intention to expand the CPEC to Afghanistan. Thus, a Taliban representative's presence at the BRI Forum this year builds up on these developments and is part of an incremental strategy of normalizing cooperation with the regime," Shekhawat added.

China had also elaborated on its approach to Afghanistan in a position paper titled "China's position on the Afghan Issue," which included the extension of CPEC among Beijing's list of priorities in the crisis-ridden country.

"In April, China released an 11-point Paper titled, 'China's Position on the Afghan Issue,' which indicates Beijing's interest in transforming Afghanistan from a 'land-locked' to a 'land-linked' country, through the extension of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), under the Belt Road Initiative (BRI) into Afghanistan, which the Paper claims the Taliban have indeed demonstrated their interest in CPEC's extension into Afghanistan. Thus, China's invitation to the Taliban to the Belt and Road Forum is a natural extension of the neo-liberal agenda they are trying to seek in Afghanistan," D'Souza said.

China's trans-continental BRI project aims at building ports, bridges, highways and power plants in a number of countries through Chinese financing, and also includes passage links connecting the Chinese mainland with Southeast Asia, South Asia, central Asia, Russia and Europe.

Critics of BRI, including Western countries and China's neighbor India, view the ambitious infrastructure initiative as Beijing's effort to expand its geopolitical and economic influence. Italy is the only Group of 7 nation that's part of BRI and is looking for a way out of the scheme.

The future of BRI is expected to be discussed at this week's forum, which will be attended by Putin, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Chilean President Gabriel Boric, Kenyan President William Ruto, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and others.

"Over the past decade, the BRI's circle of friends has continued to expand. China has signed Belt and Road cooperation documents with more than 150 countries and over 30 international organizations," China's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said about the BRI in August.