As Afghan Taliban continue expanding ties in the region, Pakistan is missing out
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International isolation is behind the huge economic losses of war-ravaged countries like Afghanistan. According to the United Nations (UN), the economy of that country has almost collapsed. Hundreds of thousands have left since the Taliban took control of Kabul more than three years ago and yet, rather remarkably, the Afghan Taliban have managed to establish not only working relationships with most regional countries but also expanded their economic collaboration to the relief of the poverty-stricken masses of their country.
Afghanistan and Uzbekistan, for example, have strengthened trade ties with new agreements including an international trade center and a railway project. Trade between Afghanistan and its neighbors — Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan — is growing rapidly with projects like Tapi Gas Pipeline and the Trans-Afghan corridor.
China’s Belt and Road initiative (BRI) has also significantly contributed to the growth of economic collaborations between Afghanistan and the Central Asian countries. In August, the government of Uzbekistan announced the opening of an international trade center in the border town of Termez. As this center will play a regional role, representatives from the governments of Azerbaijan, Kyrgystan and Kazakhstan were represented at the opening ceremony which was presided over by the Uzbek Prime Minister and the acting Prime Minister of Afghanistan, Abdul Ghani Baradar.
Underscoring Uzbekistan’s interest in firming relations with Afghanistan, their Prime Minister visited Kabul two weeks before the Termez opening. This visit resulted in 35 investment and trade agreements worth $2.5 billion with a goal of increasing bilateral trade to $3 billion. Simultaneously, Kabul hosted a trilateral meeting of economy ministers of Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan, to enhance regional trade ties.
Considering the Taliban are dealing with isolation through sanctions, their success in establishing mutually productive economic ties in the region is a huge achievement.
Rustam Shah Mohmand
In January 2024, the Afghan industry and trade Ministry reported trade between Afghanistan and Uzbekistan in the previous year had increased six-fold from 2022, hitting $266 million. Trade between Afghanistan and Turkmenistan reached $481 million. Afghan and Turkmen companies recently inked ten contracts and two memoranda of understanding on the supply of construction material, including iron bars, paint, marble and food material. The Turkmen delegation declared that they hoped to buy hundreds of tons of construction material every year from Afghanistan. Trade between Afghanistan and Turkmenistan is facilitated by the two official ports: the Aqina dry port on the rail line connecting Turkmenistan’s capital Ashgabat with Mazar-i-Sharif and Torghundi port.
The Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (Tapi) gas pipeline may also finally get underway very soon. In 2022, the total trade between Kazakhstan and Afghanistan was $984.5 million, double the 2021 level. And in August 2023, Kazakhstan and Afghanistan agreed to further increase trade and investment.
In May, the Afghan Taliban announced the building of a large logistics and energy trading hub in Herat to facilitate sales from Russia to South Asia. The project will be undertaken in cooperation with Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.
Economic collaboration with Russia and China is growing, as well as with Turkiye and India. China is involved in a huge investment in petroleum and gas besides mineral exploration in Lithium and copper. Trade with Iran has reached more than $1 billion. India is using the Chabahar port to access Central Asia and Afghanistan, and rail links with Iran and Central Asia will transform the economies of the whole region.
Considering the Taliban are dealing with isolation from international banking systems through sanctions, their success in establishing mutually productive economic ties in the region is a huge achievement.
It is unfortunate that the only country that has withdrawn from regional Afghanistan related economic cooperation and investment projects, is Pakistan. Too deeply involved in internal turmoil, Islamabad has lost sight of the many opportunities for expansion of its relations with Kabul and other regional countries.
- Rustam Shah Mohmand is a specialist of Afghanistan and Central Asian Affairs. He has served as Pakistan’s ambassador to Afghanistan and also held position of Chief Commissioner Refugees for a decade.
