China puts weight behind extending China Pakistan Economic Corridor to Afghanistan
ISTANBUL (AA) – China has conveyed to the interim administration in Kabul that Beijing supports extending the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to Afghanistan.
“China hopes to push the alignment of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) with the development strategies of Afghanistan,” China’s top diplomat Wang Yi told Afghan interim Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi.
Wang also announced zero tariffs on 98% of Afghan imports and the resumption of the issuance of visas to Afghan citizens beginning early next month, according to a statement.
The China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a mult-ibillion dollar economic and infrastructural developmental arrangement between Pakistan and China under which Beijing has invested more than $25 billion in the South Asian nation since 2014.
After the complete withdrawal of US-led foreign forces from Afghanistan, Islamabad and Beijing appear to have agreed to extend the CPEC to Afghanistan where the Taliban has ruled since last August.
The Taliban administration has also insisted on stabilizing the war-torn country to become the transit between Central and South Asia.
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