Uzbekistan's successful relations with the Taliban became an example for Kazakhstan - Haqqin.az
We recently reported that Kazakhstan removed the Taliban from the list of terrorist organizations. It is no exaggeration to say that this measure has opened a new stage in the increasingly strained Kazakhstan-Afghanistan relations. Commenting on this decision, Azerbaijan's Haqqin.az website emphasized that Kazakhstan's rapprochement with the Taliban was based in some way on Uzbekistan's "experience" in this regard. Below is the full report.
After the USA left Afghanistan, a vacuum appeared around it. The international community preferred to wait for the Taliban, who came to power unexpectedly for the whole world, to leave or be overthrown. Apparently, it didn't turn out as they expected .
" Taliban " managed to overcome the threat of humanitarian disaster in the conditions of almost complete cessation of foreign aid. They managed to partially neutralize the activities of the internal opposition, which was hostile to them. Most importantly, the Taliban managed to give Afghans the most dear and desired thing - peace. Crossing the border, a peaceful life was established, even if it was crooked and ugly in the eyes of the West.
The Taliban 's neighbors in Central Asia had to make a difficult decision: either support the view of the "progressive international community" that after the capture of Kabul after August 2021, Afghanistan disappeared from the world agenda and was left alone with its social and economic problems. support Or somehow establish relations with the Taliban , not paying attention to who and what they think about it.
Uzbekistan, which has a 144-kilometer border with Afghanistan, became a pioneer in this regard. His successful experience in building relations with the Taliban served as a model for Kazakhstan, which appreciated the size of the suddenly emerging market in the region. Astana and Tashkent fully appreciated this opportunity and did not miss it.
The volume of trade between Afghanistan and Uzbekistan is approaching 2 billion dollars by the end of 2023. The volume of trade between Astana and Kabul reached 1 billion dollars.
In order to increase the export potential of Uzbekistan, it is planning to build an international trade center in the city of Termiz with an annual turnover of 500 million dollars. Kazakhstan opened a trading house in Afghanistan and concluded contracts worth 200 million dollars with Afghan businessmen. These agreements include the development of regional trade-economic, telecommunication, transport-logistics relations. Also , using the transit potential of Afghanistan, taking into account the signed roadmap for the construction of the Termiz - Mazari Sharif - Kabul - Peshawar railway.
Astana's efforts to strengthen economic ties with the Taliban , no matter how paradoxical it may seem, are supported by both the West and Beijing, which wants Central Asia to trade as actively as possible with Pakistan and India, and trade less with Russia.
Of course, not all relations in the Astana-Tashkent-Kabul triangle are developing smoothly . But the main thing is that they are developing dynamically. There is currently no talk of final recognition of the Taliban government, both Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are closely monitoring the position of Beijing and, to some extent, Moscow, but are gradually removing all obstacles in this regard. Even if something happens , they will be among the first.
Zuhra Navrozova
