Afghanistan signed its first foreign investment deal since being under its new assumed Taliban administration in 2021. The deal was signed with a Chinese company, and involved the extraction of oil from a basin in Afghanistan as well as developing an oil reserve in the northern province of the country. A ceremony was held in Kabul, Afghanistan where the acting minister of mines and petroleum and an official from Xinjiang Central Asia Petroleum and Gas co publicly signed the deal. This deal will involve a total of 1,737 square miles of land from different provinces of northern Afghanistan. Altogether, the hopes of this partnership will increase Kabul and Beijing relations while also developing economic growth for Afghanistan.
Prior to this deal being signed, China had partnered with Afghanistan regarding oil extraction using the state owned company China National Petroleum Corp while under Afghanistan’s then American based government. The extraction was later canceled due to the fall of that government and the rise of the next. This new relationship foundation sparked between the two states will not only allow the flow of resources to be shared between the two, but also supply economic growth between the two countries. Increasing job opportunities for citizens of Afghanistan and positively increasing, “the public welfare.” China and Afghanistan have never had direct conflict or specifically strong relations, however Beijing has recently felt the pressure to help encourage security within Afghanistan as its neighboring state. Especially after the U.S withdrew from Afghanistan, China has faced this new need to increase diplomatic involvement with Afghanistan and overall strengthen relations.
This relates back to what we discussed in class because despite it going unwritten, the situation analyzes the geostrategy that China is applying when involving itself with Afghanistan. As well as demonstrates how geostrategy is used in effort to best protect an individual state from potential threats it may face unless otherwise enforced.