An interesting statement by Afghanistan’s ambassador to China, Javid Ahmad Qaem, was made to Global Times in an interview published July 16. “The only place where they could really cooperate, and at least there could be a starting point to cooperate between these rivals, if I can call them that, is Afghanistan,” said the Ambassador, referring to China, the U.S. and India. [https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202107/1228812.shtml]
The the next day’s Global Times editorial quoted Qaem made clear that China has proposed the Belt and Road Initiative – the worldwide infrastructure corridor development plan it initiated in 2013 – as the basis for cooperation in shifting Afghanistan from the theater of endless war and poverty to a nation developing and a contributor to stability. At the July 15-16 high-level international conference on “Central and South Asia: Regional Connectivity, Challenges and Opportunities” of 40 nations’ representatives in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on “stability and connectivity” following the NATO withdrawals, “China urges Central and South Asian countries to forge a closer regional connectivity partnership through high-quality cooperation under the
Belt and Road Initiative (BRI),” Global Times reported, not implying U.S. participation. [[https://news.cgtn.com/news/2021-07-04/Re-connect-with-China-to-revive-Afghanistan-s-economy—11CIqr5y3jW/index.html]
A White House readout July 18 said that a high-level U.S. delegation led by Assistant to the President for Homeland Security Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall met with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Foreign Minister Haneef Atmar at the international conference in Uzbekistan and discussed the evolving security situation in Afghanistan and the U.S. support for the Afghan defense forces. She was joined by U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and U.S. Ambassador to Uzbekistan Daniel Rosenblum, and the delegation also met with host President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, and Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar, along with bilateral meetings with other countries’ delegations. In her opening remarks to the conference, “Dr. Sherwood-Randall emphasized the importance of infrastructure development ... consistent with the aims of the new G7-led Build Back Better World initiative.” (https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/07/17/statement-by-nsc-spokesperson-emily-horne-on-senior-administration-delegation-trip-to-uzbekistan/)
