https://eurasianet.org/kazakhstan-accredits-taliban-envoys-without-recognizing-government
Since the Taliban take over of Afghanistan bilateral relations between Kazakhstan and Afghanistan have improved. Kazakhstan is recognizing Talibani representatives of the Afghan government but has not recognized the Taliban as having control over the government. The foreign Ministry spokesperson Smadiyarov stated that this is the prerogative of the United Nations. He also noted that other countries have taken up similar policies, such as China, Turkmenistan, Russia, and Pakistan. The plan is mainly to increase Kazakh trade into Afghanistan. With a population of about 40 million people the market is extremely promising. The export of goods from Kazakhstan nearly doubled when the Taliban took power of the country while imports into Kazakhstan have remained relatively low, only about 4 million a year, mainly comprised of fruit, sugar, and other food items.
Outside of economic reasons I have trouble finding an extremely strong reason for the increased trade. Religious ties exist, both countries are Muslim, particularly Sunni Muslim majorities, however this was true before the Taliban took over the country, even before the US entered the country. The Taliban also appears to be more on the extreme side of the religion whereas Kazakhstan is more moderate. The only reason I could imagine the increased trade is due to decreased American influence and in increase in an unstable government that may be incapable or bad at taxing trade into the country, this is however all stipulation.
In class we have discussed the concept of Offshore-Balancing, this idea being that to protect American interests the US government would have to balance different regions by sending troops or influencing the countries through economic means. As this ideology has fallen out of practice regions like the Middle East have been given increased Autonomy from American influence. This can sometimes be a good thing, in the case of Afghanistan it was a bad thing, it has directly resulted in the emergence of a weak, illegitimate, government that struggles to control trade in the country.