Ever since the Soviet invasion in December 1979, Afghanistan is in continuous turmoil. It has been a battleground as much for socio-political and ideological contentions as for geostrategic interests of powers from afar as from within. Such are the vagaries of the turmoil that here in Afghanistan it's to no one's surprise that yesterday's foes are friends today. Yet there is no end to this war, and it remains as blood-soaked today as when it started. It has retained its fury, at times even heightened. Will this war ever come to an end? Will people of Afghanistan have peace and stability? The prospects appear to be dim, but people can still entertain hope for such a possibility. There is perceptible change of heart on the part of those very powers which once played with fire but now seem amenable to peace over victory in Afghanistan. Even when insurgency remains strident, particularly in the wake of the Taliban's spring offensive, the effort to restore peace in Afghanistan is afoot at many regional and international forums. One such move for peace and prosperity for the people of Afghanistan was undertaken in Beijing on Saturday. Senior officials from Pakistan, China and Afghanistan met in the Chinese capital to undertake the first round of Trilateral Practical Co-operation Dialogue and agreed to promote practical measures for co-operation within the framework of China's Belt and Road Initiative. Bereft of geostrategic considerations and sovereignty constraints, the BRI offers Afghanistan the chance to break through its geographic isolation and boost its regional connectivity. And given that Pakistan is already part of the BRI through the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Afghanistan would have access to a number of regional markets, and to the sea. Kabul had expressed its interest in being part of the Belt and Road Initiative in October last year, and the Beijing meeting is the first practical move in that very direction.
The areas earmarked for trilateral co-operation include infrastructure, energy, education, health, agriculture, human resource training and capacity-building based on the needs of Afghanistan. As to how that co-operation would materialize the meeting decided to create forums where ideas and information would be exchanged between the three countries' authorities. Afghanistan should have easy access to the sea that would be possible both through connecting its southern provinces to Gwadar through the Chaman-Kandahar link and its eastern and central provinces through the Jalalabad-Torkham road, which will be built by Pakistan. Afghanistan is rich in natural resources but they remain untapped because the obtaining security situation prevents foreign investment. It already signed agreement with China in 2008 to exploit the world's second largest copper deposits at Mes Aynak. The work on the project would be possible given the Beijing's role as mediator between the Afghan government and the Taliban. The Taliban leadership is said to be amenable to outside co-operation to help Afghanistan develop economically. Maybe that is why the China-Pakistan-Afghanistan trilateral dialogue has their blessing.
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