Modi, Xi agree to work on project in Afghanistan

BEIJING: India and China will, for the first time, implement a joint economic project in war-torn Afghanistan, officials said on Saturday at the end of the two-day informal summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping.

No details were immediately available about the project but people familiar with the decision said the two leaders reached a consensus on working together for the development of Afghanistan. This is probably the first time India and China will work together on a developmental project in a third country.

India has for long had a presence in the development sector of Afghanistan and has provided billions of dollars for building and refurbishing vital infrastructure such as dams and highways.

China is emerging as a key player in Afghanistan, largely because of Beijing’s security concerns linked to terror groups such as al-Qaeda and the Islamic State. The path ahead for the India-China project will be diplomatically tricky as Beijing will have to convince its close ally Islamabad about it. Pakistan has always opposed any Indian presence in Afghanistan and has tried to position itself as the main player in any peace or reconciliation process.

China and Pakistan were part of a quadrilateral process along with the US and Afghanistan that was involved in trying to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table. Despite several promises by Islamabad, it was never able to get the Taliban leadership to commit to any sort of peace process.

While India’s leadership has never publicly spoken about involving the Taliban in a peace process, China has advocated a key role for the militants in talks.

China, for the first time, held a trilateral meet with the foreign ministers of Pakistan and Afghanistan in December 2017 to narrow down differences between the two countries. It has also announced plans to extend its controversial China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to Afghanistan.

In December, Pakistan’s proposal to establish working panels in politics, military, intelligence, economy and refugees with Afghanistan was supported by China.

“The three countries reaffirmed their commitment to pushing forward the reconciliation process in Afghanistan, calling on the Taliban to join in the process...” Xinhua news agency reported after the foreign ministers of the countries met.