China and Taliban Making a Deal on Belt and Road Initiative

Afghanistan, a country ravaged by conflict for decades, is strategically significant and endowed with considerable wealth. The country may potentially reap billions of dollars from a new agreement it reached with China and Pakistan.

As part of the failed pullout in 2021, the Biden administration gave the Taliban-ruled country billions of dollars’ worth of military weapons and equipment as a present. However, in the months afterward, the administration has been attempting to twist that figure and decrease it with the aid of the media.

Afghanistan would receive around $60 billion as part of the agreement between the three countries for the reconstruction of the country. Access to Afghanistan has been a priority for Chinese President Xi Jinping and his “belt and road initiative” for more than a decade.

In addition, the Taliban would seek to negotiate other deals with China for rare minerals in Afghanistan worth close to $1 trillion. Electric vehicle batteries and other components of the ‘green energy’ movement, which Western governments are imposing on their populace, rely on these minerals.

Pakistan and China are attempting to skirt the over $9 billion in US sanctions by entering into these pacts. In an agreement with the Taliban to ease restrictions on Afghan women, the Biden administration has already unfrozen half of this.

Iran, China, Russia, and Pakistan have all embraced Afghanistan after the United States exit and are now exploring commercial opportunities with the authoritarian administration. They have given the Taliban millions of dollars, yet none of them recognizes them as the legitimate administration.

In contrast, after leaving Afghanistan, the United States has spent nearly $2 billion on humanitarian help. The United Nations has also asked for an additional $4.6 billion to combat poverty in Afghanistan.