Afghanistan, China agree to foreign ministers' meet; Beijing to resume Afghan imports

A Taliban spokesperson informed on October 18 that Afghanistan's interim Foreign Minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi will be meeting his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi. The announcement came a day after Muttaqi met China's ambassador to Kabul, Wang Yu. Abdul Qahar Balkhi, a spokesperson for the Taliban Foreign Ministry, informed via Twitter that during the conversation on Sunday, October 17, both sides decided to convene a meeting between the two foreign ministers. 

On being translated, Balkhi's tweet read, "IEA Foreign Minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi met Wang Yu, Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to Kabul, yesterday evening. During the meeting, both sides agreed on convening a meeting between IEA & Chinese Foreign Ministers, the venue and date of which will be determined later."

If the meeting takes place, Wang Yi will be the fourth foreign minister to meet with officials from the interim Taliban government, after his colleagues from Turkey, Uzbekistan, and Qatar, ANI reported. Minister Muttaqi and Ambassador Wang Yu discussed the restart of Afghan pine nut exports to China, with the Chinese side promising to complete the necessary arrangements and resume exports as soon as possible. In a subsequent tweet, Balkhi wrote that Muttaqi extended gratitude to Wang Yu for his efforts to recommence pine nuts shipment to China.

China's $2 billion pine nut deal with Afghanistan

Pine nuts form an important part of Afghanistan's export revenue. In 2019, Afghanistan signed a $2.2 billion deal with China for exporting pine nuts to the country through its air freight corridor, in the next five years. That year, Afghanistan's pine nut exports to China stood at 2,000 tons, according to Sayed Zaman Hashimi, the then CEO of the Afghanistan Chamber of Investment and Commerce. Hashimi had told reporters that, in 2018, exports stood at 1070 tonnes. Afghanistan's pine nut exports saw a brief pause in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic, before being completely shut after the Taliban's takeover of the country in mid-August. this year.    

Afghanistan Pine Nuts Union's request to ban smuggling

According to media reports, the Afghanistan Pine Nuts Union had, earlier this month, urged the Taliban government to ban smuggling of dried fruits, especially pine nuts, from the country saying that a stop in exports has pushed several to unemployment leading to the practice.  

On October 6, Chinese media quoted the Afghanistan Pine Nuts Union as saying in a statement that the Union, according to its strategic plan, wants to export pine nuts to the world markets like it used to before the Taliban's takeover. 

It should be mentioned here that only a few countries, including China and Pakistan, have shown interest in collaborating with the Taliban since their takeover of Afghanistan. Others in the international community are opting for a wait-and-see approach. 

(With inputs from agencies, Image: @QaharBalkhi/Twitter)