Jehanzeb Qureshi
China increasing interest in Afghanistan affairs for achieving peace and prosperity is not a recent venture. It was during 2014, when Beijing had intensified her efforts towards developing the diplomatic and economic relations with Afghanistan. The steps were obviously mutually beneficial and worth exploiting, besides, maintaining China’s big brother role in the region, without indulging into any controversy. The step taken in Afghanistan by China, is in complete conformity of her global polices, which is broadly based on the principal that instead of selecting few or specific countries for friendship, every country should be treated with equality and respect. There is a great potential for China to play a helpful role in Afghanistan’s future economic and security prospects. China had been intensifying its diplomatic efforts to help build a peaceful and stable Afghanistan, by hosting a regional meeting on the issue and deepening its bilateral ties with Kabul.
China has already displayed by her actions about the fact that China is not seeking or interested to fill an apparent void left by the complete or partial withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan. There are some political and economic issues which support the confidence that China along with the other countries including US, could play a useful role in the reconciliation process between the Afghan government and the Taliban. Since the start of 2014, China’s Afghanistan diplomacy was witnessed by the international community as more positive, proactive, and dynamic. Beijing hosted the fourth foreign ministers’ meeting during October 2014 of the Istanbul Process, an international effort launched in 2011 to encourage cooperation and coordination between Afghanistan and its neighbors and regional partners. By hosting that event, China showed her desire to take the initiative in promoting a smooth power transfer after Afghanistan’s 2014 presidential election and a stable security transition following the scheduled withdrawal of International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) troops and US combat forces, which took place in December 2014. The Istanbul Process meeting also demonstrated China’s positive attitude towards regional and international cooperation on Afghanistan. China attached reasonable expectations to use this multilateral framework to propose its own ideas for securing Afghanistan’s future, and to win other nations’ support for its approach.
China continued to hold bilateral and trilateral meetings on Afghanistan with other countries in the region. In February 2015, following three earlier sets of talks, the first round of the China-Afghanistan-Pakistan Trilateral Strategic Dialogue was held in Kabul. In 2014, talks among China, Russia, and India took place, as did a second round of talks between China and Iran. In past years, China had also held bilateral talks on Afghanistan with India and Pakistan. Experts viewed China, having the strong position to help coordinate between Afghanistan and other stakes holders and neighbours, having important role to play in promoting security in Afghanistan. A consensus among these surrounding countries on their positions and policies would help to ensure a stable future for Afghanistan. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a regional group that includes most of Afghanistan’s neighbors and nearby countries, is an important multilateral platform for coordinating policies toward Afghanistan. High-level, bilateral exchanges between China and Afghanistan became more frequent during the year 2014, even in February 2014 Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Kabul and indicated that China would support Afghanistan in achieving smooth political, security, and economic transitions. In October 2014, the newly elected president of Afghanistan, Ashraf Ghani, visited China. The two sides expressed their intention to deepen their strategic partnership and laid the foundation for strengthening the relationship between China and the new Afghan government. Going forward, China and Afghanistan had agreed to work more closely in the areas of politics, economics, security, and culture. Latest, configuration of Quadrilateral meeting and China’s positive and constructive role is seen as a mark of confidence for the resumption of talks, despite Taliban’s recent controversial move to endorse their principal stance of foreign troops withdrawal and other related points. However, the future prospects of resumption of peace talks are quite encouraging.
China’s actions in Afghanistan are motivated by its national interests, and by a growing awareness of its responsibility, as a major power in the region, to promote security and economic development in Afghanistan and throughout South and Central Asia. Security is China’s top interest in Afghanistan. The two countries are neighbors, and the border they share, although only about 90 kilometers (approximately 56 miles) long, poses significant security concerns for China. The Afghan side of the border is considered as a breeding ground of terrorism and extremism, while on the Chinese side sits Xinjiang, a region that is especially vulnerable to the effects of terrorism and extremism. The situation in Xinjiang has become more complicated, moving it to the forefront of China’s national security strategy. Maintaining security and stability in Xinjiang requires a dual approach. China is committed to combat and control domestic separatist, terrorist, and extremist groups in the region. But it also faces the danger that they might coordinate with terrorist groups in Afghanistan and beyond. China is therefore also trying to isolate external terrorism and extremism, to prevent these outside forces from influencing or spilling into Xinjiang. If Afghanistan cannot achieve stability, it will be more difficult to ensure Xinjiang’s security and stability. China also has significant financial investments in Afghanistan, chiefly the Mes Aynak copper mine, southeast of Kabul, and the Amu Darya oil fields in northern Afghanistan. Beyond these ventures, Chinese officials see an opportunity to make further investments in the country for having increased leverages in Afghanistan.
China’s Silk Road Economic Belt strategy includes the construction of railways and highways to better connect Central Asia, South Asia, and the Middle East. Afghanistan is located at the geographical hub of these regions, and any unrest or civil war there would likely result in instability spilling over into nearby regions, making it difficult for the strategy to succeed. Economic aid is only one aspect of the assistance that China could extend to Afghanistan, provided Afghanistan stick to her indigenous polices rather that dictated one. Besides, Afghanistan needs to dilute Indian influences on her political, diplomatic and security apparatus, due to the fact that the influenced polices are not helping Afghanistan and the overall situation in Afghanistan is deteriorating day by day. In such a scenario, China’s willingness to increase economic cooperation with Afghanistan and help Afghanistan to gain greater economic independence should be duly appreciated and capitalize by Afghan government. The Chinese policy for Afghanistan seems not merely to provide Afghan people with fish but to teach them how to fish. Within the framework of China’s Silk Road Economic Belt strategy, the two countries have many opportunities for cooperation which needs to be utilized properly as this would not only produce benefits for Afghanistan’s economy, but it would also propel the country forward and help it further incorporate the region’s broader economic development.
