A few days ago, Amir Khan Muttaji, the foreign minister of the Taliban interim government, met with Chinese Ambassador to Kabul Zhao Sheng, during which Muttaqi focused on the opening of the Wakhan port. He said the Taliban had created favorable conditions for trade and investment. The implication is that it is hoped that China will open the Wakhan Corridor to Atta as soon as possible.
[Foreign Minister Atta Meets with Chinese Ambassador]
On the subject of the Wakhan Corridor, Atta has mentioned it more than once or twice, and the reason why he attaches so much importance to the corridor is mainly due to its strategic location. As the only land link between China and Afghanistan, the Wakhan Corridor is located in the heart of Asia, connecting Central Asia and South Asia. Moreover, its strategic significance is also prominent because of its strategic proximity to the planning area of the Belt and Road Initiative and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
For Atta, opening up the Wakhan Corridor is of two significance:
Economically, the existence of the Wakhan Corridor provides Afghanistan with an "acceleration track" for economic development. During the three years of Atta's interim government, Afghanistan's economic situation has not improved significantly. Nearly 97 per cent of the population lives below the poverty line, with about 28 million people, or two-thirds of the population, in need of humanitarian assistance to stay alive, while 6 million people are at risk of famine. At present, the United Nations has only about $300 million in humanitarian emergency funds, which is a drop in the bucket for Afghanistan.
If Afghanistan wants to change this predicament, it will need to improve its economic strength. In the current situation, it is particularly important to open up the Chinese market. The reason for this is that Afghanistan's foreign trade is mainly concentrated in agricultural products and coal, which highly overlaps with the trade structure of its neighboring Central Asian countries, making it difficult for it to develop the Central Asian market; furthermore, Afghanistan's transportation mainly relies on border crossings, and after the Atta interim government came to power, border conflicts with neighboring countries have occurred frequently, and treaty ports have been closed many times due to conflicts.
[Afghanistan's economic situation has not improved significantly]
China's large market and the fact that it has not been in direct conflict with Afghanistan make it an important business partner for Afghanistan. However, due to the lack of direct trade routes between China and Afghanistan, most goods exported from Afghanistan to China need to pass through third countries such as India and Pakistan, resulting in a significant increase in logistics costs, tariffs and time costs. If the Wakhan Corridor is opened, it will undoubtedly greatly shorten the travel time between China and Afghanistan, and the freight cost may also be significantly reduced.
From a diplomatic point of view, opening up the Wakhan Corridor can strengthen bilateral cooperation between China and Argentina. Since the Atta interim government came to power, it has not been recognized by the international community. If the Wakhan Corridor can be opened up and the bilateral cooperation between China and Argentina can be deepened, it will be much easier for the Atta government to enhance its international influence and accumulate negotiation capital.
It is worth mentioning that when Atta was anxious to open up the Wakhan Corridor, Russia took the initiative to find Atta for cooperation. It is reported that Russia, Uzbekistan and other countries are holding meetings to discuss the establishment of new transport routes through Afghanistan.
The route will start from Belarus and travel north all the way south through six countries, including Afghanistan, until it reaches Pakistan. It can greatly facilitate the contacts of Belarus, Russia and the countries of Central Asia with the countries bordering the Indian Ocean. For Afghanistan, this route is certainly beneficial, but its importance is a little further back than the Wakhan corridor.
[Russia talks to Atta about cooperation]
In fact, as early as 2009, Afghanistan had the idea of building the Wakhan Highway to open up the corridor, but due to the turbulent times and economic conditions, this idea did not come to fruition. In 2019, the United States offered to provide $17 million and sent American companies to build the project, but due to the complex terrain and difficult construction, by the time the US troops withdrew in 2021, about 450 kilometers of the highway had been built, and the most difficult 50 kilometers had not been completed.
After Atta came to power in 2021, he once again proposed to build the Wakhan Highway. But after another two years, the construction of the remaining 50 kilometers was officially started. It was not until January this year that Atta officially announced the completion of the Little Pamir Highway, but this "completion" is somewhat reluctant, and most of the road's roads have not yet been leveled, hardened, and paved with asphalt, and there is still a long way to go before it can actually be opened to traffic.
However, as an important section of the Wakhan Highway, the construction of the Lesser Pamir Highway means that the Wakhan Highway, with a total length of nearly 500 kilometers, has been basically completed, and Afghanistan will be officially connected to China from now on. And we need to note that although this road is physically opened, China and Afghanistan have not actually opened this road at present.
[Chinese workers in Pakistan hit by terrorist attacks]
This time, Atta specially asked the Chinese ambassador to discuss this matter, undoubtedly hoping to get the Chinese side to relax as soon as possible and promote the opening of the corridor, but now is obviously not the best time to open the corridor, because the current internal stability in Afghanistan has not yet been restored.
During Atta's years in power, there were constant factional clashes within the country, with multiple anti-Taliban forces operating frequently across Afghanistan. The Islamic State-Khorasan branch has a long-standing presence in Afghanistan with extremist groups such as the Pakistani Taliban, which use Afghanistan as a base to carry out attacks on neighboring countries. Recent attacks, including those on mainland workers in Pakistan and the terrorist attack on a concert hall in Russia, are directly linked to these terrorist groups.
Based on this, the Chinese ambassador said very tactfully, only saying that the Chinese side is currently considering and studying the feasibility of the project. The implication is that the opening of the Wakhan Corridor is not impossible, but only if Atta wants to cut ties with terrorism and crack down on the "three forces", only when security guarantees are in place can the cooperation between the two sides reach a higher level.